| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 3 hr 45 min |
| Active: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Kosher salt
- 3 medium turnips, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 medium rutabaga, peeled, halved and cut into thin slices
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds (not toasted)
- 1 cup finely grated Parmesan
- 2 large Anjou or Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup finely grated Gruyere
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Combine the cream, milk, mustard, cayenne, nutmeg, a generous amount of salt and the turnips and rutabaga in a large bowl. Mix well. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a large pot over medium heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally to assure the mixture is not sticking to the bottom, until the vegetables give up water and become tender, for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and taste for seasoning.
- Make the topping: Mash 2 tablespoons butter in a small bowl. Add the panko, almonds and 1/2 cup Parmesan and stir to combine. Set aside.
- Add the pears to the turnip mixture. Grease the bottom and sides of a 3-quart gratin dish with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Spread the minced garlic on the bottom of the dish with the back of a spoon. Arrange half of the turnip mixture and cream evenly in the bottom of the gratin dish, pressing down to flatten the mixture. Top with the Gruyere and remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan. Arrange the remaining turnip mixture evenly on top. Pour any leftover cream over the gratin. Cover the dish with a sheet of foil, crimping the edges, and place on a baking sheet so that no excess liquid will leak onto the floor of your oven and burn.
- Place in the center of the oven and bake for 1 hour. Carefully remove from the oven, take off the foil and return to the oven to cook until completely tender when pierced with the tip of a small knife, 45 minutes to 1 hour more.
- Top the gratin with the panko-cheese mixture and bake until golden brown, about another 15 minutes. Remove and cool at least 30 minutes but no longer than 1 hour before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 434 |
| Total Fat | 34 g |
| Saturated Fat | 20 g |
| Carbohydrates | 19 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 11 g |
| Protein | 15 g |
| Cholesterol | 96 mg |
| Sodium | 592 mg |
Reviews
Made this last night. It is one of my daughters favorites. Yes it does take a bit and cook time is two hours plus at least 30 after you take it out, but it is very good. Wanted to address the comments about a bitter aftertaste. I think it might be due to the thick waxy skin on the rutabaga. Yes, I had to get one that was the size of a babies head( good one btw) but I cut the green outer layer off. It was about 3 cm thick even after I peeled it first. I also doubled the almond topping.
While it looks amazing, this is a very difficult and time consuming recipe. Would love someone to make it for me lol but this is not a realistic recipe for the average person! Bon appetit!
Made this for thanksgiving this year. Not too many turnip fans in my house. It did taste great, however it was the crunchy topping that really sold it. Next time I will boil and mash combo of turnip and rutabaga. Maybe add chopped pear. Then sprinkle topping on it. Much like sweet potato casserole. But definitely tastes good!
Very rich, 3.5 hours start to finish, I substituted apples, delicious. Agree with previous reviewer—there is a weird unpleasant bitter under taste, but after refrigerating overnight, it’s gone.
I made this for Thanksgiving because it sounded delicious and different. Unfortunately it had a subtle but very present bitter after taste. I wonder if it’s because the rutabaga I used was too big?? I went online and saw that when cooking with rutabagas smaller is better. The only rutabagas in my local store were very big, think baby’s head big. So be warned I guess. Smaller is better with rutabagas.
My husbands family are rutabaga fans. I am going to try this recipe for Thanksgiving. Can it be made ahead?
This recipe is so rich and flavorful. It has just the right touch of heat with the cayenne. It is very time consuming. It is definitely worth the work.
Loved it! Forgot almonds tho. Hubby, the picky eater, said he’d eat this again! Thank you,Alex!
This was excellent. Even better than my expectations! Made a few changes. Didn’t have turnips so I substituted parsnips. Didn’t have almonds so I substituted pine nuts. I was pleased that the flavor from the pears was the highlight of the dish.