I do not like this recipe. I should have known when it said to include tomatoes in the gratin that it was not going to be good. I found that the entire gratin tasted of roasted tomatoes--more like a casserole than a gratin, and the tomato juice and added water from the celeriac boiling wound up steaming, instead of baking, the gratin. I also found that cooking the potatoes first left a lot of the potato starch on my mandoline, instead of binding my gratin. And, 1/4 inch is way to thick for a gratin. Overall, not good. My advice: if you want to make a potato gratin with some celeriac, use a plain potato gratin recipe and just replace every other layer of the gratin with celeriac.
Potato-Celeriac Gratin
Comté or Emmentaler cheese, celeriac (also known as celery root), and tomatoes are combined with sliced potatoes and crème fraîche for this sumptuous gratin. This recipe is an adaptation of one in Patricia Wells's cookbook Bistro Cooking (Ted Smart, 1999).
Credit: Larry Nighswander
INGREDIENTS
2-2½ lbs. baking potatoes like CharlotteHalf of a large celery root (celeriac)
4 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and roughly diced
3 garlic cloves, sliced paper thin
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 cups of grated cheese like comté or emmental
7 oz. crème fraïche
Salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat the oven to 375°. Put the potatoes in a pot of salted boiling water and boil for 15 minutes until soft.2. While the potatoes are cooking, peel the celery root (celeriac). Cut into ¼" slices. Put in a separate pot of salted boiling water and boil for 3 minutes, until slightly translucent. Drain, keeping some of the liquid and set aside.
2. When the potatoes are cooked, take them out and rinse under cold water. Let cool. Peel skin and cut into ¼" slices. Set aside.
3. In a small pot, heat oil. Fry the garlic for 10 seconds or so, until they are fragrant. Do not brown.
4. Add the tomatoes. Lower to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes. The tomatoes should become a sauce.
5. Add half a cup of celeriac juice or cooking water to tomato sauce, then add the crème fraïche. Stir until well mixed.
6. Butter a medium sized gratin dish. Put a layer of sliced potatoes. Then a layer of celeriac slices. Add a layer of tomato sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
7. Repeat the layering finishing with the grated cheese. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve piping hot.
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