I originally published this recipe back in the Autumn of 2008, but it is such great family friendly comfort food I have decided to feature it again.

Autumn is a capricious season. One day it’s crisp and colourful with the leaves a spectacular display of gorgeousness, the next it is damp, bone chilling and grey, making you want to go and hide under the duvet. As the nights draw in and it gets dark earlier, I crave warming, delicious food that not only tastes good, but also fills the house with wonderful smells so that as soon as you walk in the door you are enveloped by comfort and coziness.

So what to cook? The obvious choices are soups and stews, to take advantage of autumn’s bounty and the abundant choice of fruit and vegetables. But there is something else I love to cook, which contains the mother of all comfort foods – potatoes. Combined with parsnips and leeks in a gratin they make a wonderful warming main dish that only needs a salad or some grilled vegetables on the side to make a complete meal. It’s also nice with a basket of warmed rolls on the table - provided you are not worried about carbohydrate overload!

The beauty of potatoes au gratin is that they require very little preparation (aside from a bit of light peeling) and they are easy to cook – you simply put them in a low oven for an hour or so and voila, dinner! Of course, they make an amazing side dish as well. They are also easy on your budget. This recipe will serve four to five generously as a main course.

1 – 2  large baking potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly

4 medium leeks, washed and sliced very thinly

5 large (or 7 medium) parsnips, peeled and sliced

2 vegetable stock cubes

2 handful of bread crumbs

3 handfuls grated vegetarian cheese (cheddar is really nice with this)

2½ cups (20 ounces) milk

 

Prepare the vegetables and set aside. Mix together the bread crumbs and cheddar cheese in a medium size bowl. Finely crumble the stock cubes into this mixture and stir to combine. 

 

In a large casserole dish, begin to layer the gratin.  Start with a thin layer of potatoes, then of parsnips and then leeks. Sprinkle with one third of the cheesy breadcrumb mixture. Repeat with another layer of potatoes, parsnips and leeks and again sprinkle with one third of the cheesy breadcrumbs.   For the third layer of vegetables, start with the parsnips, follow with the leeks and finish with a layer of potatoes.  (Do not sprinkle the last of the breadcrumb mixture over top just yet.)

 

Heat the milk in a saucepan or in the microwave until it is just warm (not boiling).  Pour the milk over the gratin. Now sprinkle with the last one third of the cheesy breadcrumb mixture. Bake at 170ºC or about 350ºF for about an hour and a half, until a dinner knife can be inserted easily in the gratin (which shows the vegetables are tender) and the top is golden brown. 

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