Dairy-Free Gratin Dauphinois

This, like so many of my recipes, was made this last-minute, realising just before we started to cook dinner that we needed to finish some potatoes. We ate it with a simple salad, with a cider vinegar and olive oil dressing, and thought it was so good that I would share the recipe with you.

It could be eaten as a vegetarian main course with a lovely endive and roquefort salad, with or without the walnuts, or as an accompaniment to roast beef or lamb.

Ingredients

• 1 kg potatoes, thinly sliced
• Two large handfuls French button mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 500 ml good quality vegetable bouillon
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp English mustard powder
• Grated cheese, ideally Emmental
• Salt and pepper to taste

Serves 4

Method

Heat the (fan) oven to 160C. In a large gratin dish, mix the sliced potato, mushroom and garlic until it is evenly distributed. Make up the bouillon in a jug and stir in the herbs, a twist or two of pepper and the mustard powder, ensuring it is well mixed. Pour evenly over the vegetables, and if necessary top up with hot water until they are just covered.

Cook in the oven for around 50 minutes, making sure it does not brown too much. Then cover with the grated cheese and put back in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese browns.

Enjoy!