*Winter Vegetable Gratin*
Serves 6 This is a fabulous side dish, filled with lovely vegetables and a low fat, diabetic friendly, delicious cream sauce. 250g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved (1/4 pound) 1/2 of a Savoy cabbage, trimmed and roughly chopped 2 - 3 fresh leeks, trimmed, well washed and cut into thick slices 3 TBS flour (use white whole wheat if you can get it) 240ml semi skimmed Milk (1 cup) (You can use skimmed and decrease the fat even further) 240ml water (1 cup) 1 vegetable stock pot or cube 1 tsp ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 1 TBS whole grain mustard 2 TBS each grated Parmesan Cheese, Strong cheddar cheese and Emmenthaler cheese (swiss cheese), divided 4 TBS soft whole wheat bread crumbs Prepare your vegetables and then bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the vegetables and then blanche for 4 to 5 minutes. Drain well and then refresh in cold water. Drain well again. Set aside to finish draining. Put the flour, milk, water, stock pot, nutmeg, and pepper into a food processor. Blitz until smooth. Pour into the saucepan you used to cook the vegetables in. Cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat until the mixture bubbles and begins to thicken. Cook, stirring, for several minutes. Mix together the cheeses. Remove 2 TBS and mix into the bread crumbs. Set aside. Stir the remainining cheese into the sauce, whisking until it melts. Whisk in the mustard. Remove from the heat. Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Spray a gratin dish lightly with low fat cooking spray. Layer in half of the drained vegetables, half the sauce (making sure you drizzle it evenly over all) the remaining vegetables and then finally the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the breadcrumb cheese mixture evenly over top. Bake in the preheated oven fore 30 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown. Serve hot. |
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