| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 15 min |
| Active: | 30 min |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 medium Spanish onions, sliced
- 20 ounces baby spinach
- 2 2/3 cups cream cheese (21 ounces), cut into small cubes
- 1 1/3 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup full-fat yogurt
- Zest of 2 oranges
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 sprigs fresh sage, minced
- 4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/8-inch thick
- 4 large carrots, sliced on the bias 1/8-inch thick
- 1 1/2 cups toasted breadcrumbs
- 1 cup pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large pan, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the onion and saute until translucent and tender, 3 to 5 minutes. In stages, add the spinach and cook until all of the spinach is incorporated and cooked through. Set aside.
- In a saucepot over medium-high heat, combine the cream cheese and vegetable stock, whisking to form a smooth mixture. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat to medium and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the yogurt and orange zest and whisk until incorporated, then remove from the heat. Add the spinach to the cream cheese mixture. Season with salt and pepper and fold together.
- Coat the inside of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with the remaining olive oil. Place a thin layer of the spinach mixture on the bottom of the dish and sprinkle with a third of the sage. Place a layer of sweet potatoes on top of the spinach and season with salt and pepper. Top with a single layer of carrots, then a layer of the spinach mixture and some sage. Repeat the steps once more, finishing with a layer of the spinach mixture on top, followed by a sprinkle of sage.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake until the potatoes and carrots are tender, 1 hour and 20 minutes. Remove the foil, coat with the breadcrumbs and continue to bake until the breadcrumbs are golden brown, an additional 10 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. When ready to serve, top with the pomegranate seeds.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 628 |
| Total Fat | 42 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 54 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 9 g |
| Sugar | 18 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Cholesterol | 86 mg |
| Sodium | 1047 mg |
Reviews
Wondering if anyone could advise if Swiss Chard could be used instead of spinach – for those of us who dislike spinach?
Not a fan
Loved this. Got a four because it was a little labor intensive, You better have a mandolin. Do NOT leave off the pomegranate. Where do they get their sweet potatoes? I needed about the amount listed.
Could this recipe be prepared a day ahead, and then cooked on serving day.
Amazing! I needed a vegetarian recipe and when I saw this made on ‘the kitchen’ I knew it would be a winner. Super creamy with tons of flavor (Even meat eaters will like it). The only advice I would give when making this recipe is to make sure you place a sheet pan underneath your 13” X 9” dish before placing it in the oven. The sauce on the top bubbles over. Other then that this recipe was a hit!
Thank you GZ and Food Network.
Thank you GZ and Food Network.
I found this recipe a bit labor intensive so while I was making it, I kept hoping it was worth the effort…..it was. The texture was great, the flavor was great and I also had the debate in my mind over thyme vs. sage (since I saw the recipe in The Kitchen). I went with thyme because the recipe says “sprigs”. Springs seems like thyme while leaves seems like sage.. it worked out great. The only thing i substituted was that I used a disc of Borsin herbed cheese for some of the cream cheese because it was ready to expire and I couldn’t imagine it doing anything bad….added flavor. Once cooled off a bit, the sauce was not loose. Thanks GZ!!
This came out really good despite some substitutions I had to make due to not having some ingredients on hand and needing to down size it a bit. I used 2 LG sweet potatoes and about 5 carrots – I only had really skinny ones. I used chicken stock instead of veg . I used a little less cream cheese and more yogurt. I didn’t have any fresh sage so I used dry, and I used lemon instead of orange zest. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about was that the sauce was really runny. I may try to add some flour when Sautéing the onions to thicken it a bit. Otherwise perfect recipe! Next time I try I will definitely be sure to have all the ingredients.
Great recipe. I️ will say it makes so much that I️ cut the recipe in half as well.
I liked the way this dish sounded as soon as I saw the combination. But for me, revisions were necessary. There’s only 2 of us. So I used 2 medium sweet potatoes instead of 4. I used 3 carrots instead of 4, and the full 20 ounces of spinach, because I love spinach. I’m also a giant fan of carmelized onions, so we kept those proportions as recommended in the recipe too.
But already you can see, this is not the dish that GZ made. I apologize GZ. GZ does not put together the recipe “that Jack built.” When Zakarian creates, it’s artwork.
But anyway, the yogurt in the stock, the cream cheese (I used less, thank you Weight Watchers for helping me lose 9 lbs in the last 3 months) and the orange zest were a fantastic combination. Use the orange zest! It is magic with the carrots. I also had to use dry sage from my spice rack since the real thing was not available. Pomegranate seeds were also not hanging around my kitchen at the time. Hmm. But even after I got done revising the whole GZ recipe, it was GREAT!!!! If all you do is use this recipe as a rough guide, it is so basically good, that you will be able to make something unique and delicious. Yay GZ!
This is gratin is so good. The Orange zest added a brightness and the pomegranate added a little crunch with sweetness. I served a korean style chicken breast and an asian style baked tofu. I used frozen pomegranate arils thawed in the refrigerator then drained them and let each person add a teaspoon to their serving.