- Hi, guys, good to see everybody this weekend.
So most of us are probably familiar
with the potatoes gratin.
That's something that we make here in the States a lot,
but the French are really known for their vegetable gratins,
they'll gratin anything.
And one of my favorite things in the summertime
is the zucchini gratin.
This is the perfect thing to serve this time of year,
if you're making a roast chicken for a Sunday night dinner.
So for this recipe, we're gonna be using a gratin dish.
And a gratin dish just basically looks like this.
It's something low and shallow.
And this is by design because you really want something
that's sort of low and shallow so that every serving
gets a little bit of all that crispy bit.
Okay, so the first thing you want to do is butter
your gratin dish, because by the time we get bechamal sauce
in here and the Gruyere cheese, it gets a little sticky.
So the butter is going to help with that,
and all great French recipes start with butter, right?
Let's be honest.
So we're gonna need seven cups of zucchini,
which is about four to five good-sized zucchini.
Now there's a couple of different ways to go.
You want to cut little rounds,
about a quarter of an inch thick,
so you can cut them by hand.
You can put them in a food processor,
if you have that blade attachment
that will slice it for you.
Or my favorite way to do it is with a mandoline.
So I don't go in for a lot of kitchen gadgets,
but this one I'm really sold on,
especially for a lot of my French dishes
that require very thinly sliced, precise vegetables.
Now, mandolines can be a little intimidating at first,
but if you get a good one and you know how to use it
properly, they will not hurt you.
So I really love this one by Good Grips
because it's really solid.
It has a locking function and it has several different sizes
that you can choose from.
So basically what we're gonna do is we're gonna set this
to a quarter-inch thick.
Then if you are using a mandolin,
I highly recommend looking for larger-sized zucchini
that are thick like this because it'll help
them move through the slicer a lot safer
than something that's too tall and skinny.
I would say, though, don't ever take a piece of vegetable
like this and just run it without the safety guard,
because that is a surefire way to cut yourself.
These things move very quickly, so much so you don't even
realize how quick it's moving until it's too late.
And the first couple slices are usually not the best,
but you just gotta kinda get it going.
And then once you got your hat on,
then it'll start to slice.
There you go.
Okay, so I have my seven cups of zucchini here.
I also have a cup of white onion
that I've sliced very thinly.
So you wanna slice them into half moons,
something like this.
Have a deep skillet here that I've got
on a medium-high flame.
I'm gonna add a little bit of olive oil,
could also use butter.
This is pretty rich, this whole dish, I won't lie.
So I try to be a little more conservative
with the butter when I can.
Then we're gonna add our onions to the pan like this.
And we're gonna get these going, and we just wanna cook them
until they are nice, and translucent, and fragrant.
And as always, you can find the printable versions
of these recipes on my website,
and you can also sign up for my newsletter.
And then that way you'll get the newest recipe
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So if that's easier for you, you can do that too.
And then we are also gonna season with a little bit
of salt and pepper.
Then once the onions start to look like this,
then we wannna add our zucchini.
So in it goes, and it is gonna bake in the oven.
But I do like to give it a headstart
just by steaming it a little bit with the onions.
Because this dish only cooks for about 30 minutes
in the oven, we kinda wanna give
the zucchini a headstart.
And then give them a little seasoning as well.
And then we're gonna put the lid on and let this go for
about five to seven minutes.
And then when it's done, it'll look like this.
It'll be kind of all steamy.
The zucchini will look wet and sort of starting to be
a little bit more opaque like that, that's perfect.
So you can set these aside in a bowl
and then I'll show you how to make the bechamel sauce.
Okay, so for our bechamel sauce,
we're going to add three tablespoons of butter.
Now, if you've never made a bechamel sauce from scratch,
it's super easy.
Then once your butter looks like this,
then you can add the flour.
So I'm just using regular all-purpose flour.
And then you're gonna give that a whisk until it starts
to become kinda pasty, but combined.
And you wanna cook it for at least a minute,
just to cook off that raw flour taste,
and to activate the flour.
And I think the secret with bechamel sauce
is to make sure you do have enough butter
so that you don't have a real paste on your hands.
Because if you have a paste, when you go to add the milk,
which is what we're gonna do now, two cups,
any kind of milk, you can use low fat, you can use whole,
it will get so clumpy on you.
Then we are gonna season with a quarter teaspoon of salt,
some freshly cracked pepper.
And then I also like to use a little pinch of nutmeg,
which is really good in bechamel sauce.
Sometimes I also like to throw in some garlic in bechamel
but I'm not gonna do it this time because we're gonna save
the garlic for the homemade bread crumbs,
which is where they really belong.
So we'll do the nutmeg here.
Then you just wanna continue to heat this and stir it
just until it starts to bubble and thicken.
So when it looks like this and it's thick and creamy,
and is coating the spoon, then you know you're good to go.
So now we don't wanna put this on the zucchini just yet.
We're just gonna set this aside
and work on the homemade bread crumbs.
Then we can assemble everything at the last minute
and pop it in the oven.
So we are going to be using sourdough bread.
I think that this bread works the best
for these types of breadcrumbs.
And this dish really calls for homemade bread crumbs.
You certainly could use a mix
of panko and store-bought breadcrumbs, if you're in a pinch,
that would totally work.
Or if you didn't have a food processor
and you needed something easy.
But if you really wanna send this dish over the edge,
you'll make the homemade bread crumbs.
They just are so delicious.
Okay, so we're going to tear this bread up like this.
And in fact, if you didn't have a food processor,
you could also go through the painstaking task
of just tearing the bread into little pieces,
because that's basically what the food processor
is gonna do for us.
So you could do that too.
Okay, then we are also gonna add two tablespoons
of melted butter, just like that,
a little handful of fresh parsley.
So about two tablespoons or so, one garlic clove
that you've minced, and a little bit of salt,
and a little bit of pepper.
See, how easy, totally worth the effort.
I'm gonna put the top on and then we're gonna pulse it up.
I don't like to take it too far.
I still like to be kind of chunky with it.
So something like this.
Okay, so let's assemble our gratin.
So because our bechamel sauce was sitting for a bit,
it might start to thicken on you.
If it does, I would just reheat it quickly
and give it a whisk.
That will just remove any skin that may have formed.
And also it will make it more pourable,
because we wanna make sure that we can equally distribute it
in our gratin pan, and that it doesn't come out
in like little flops.
Then we are just gonna pour this right over, just like so.
Then the best part, the cheese.
So I have a cup here of just grated Gruyere cheese.
Okay, then we have our fabulous breadcrumbs
that we are gonna put on top here.
Then we're gonna put this in a 375 degree Fahrenheit
oven for just 30 minutes.
And then when it's done, it'll look like this.
The sauce will be bubbling and those breadcrumbs
will be nice and crispy.
I'm just gonna go for it, try a little bit.
This is so delicious, I could just have this for dinner.
I don't even need the chicken.
This is so good.
You've got to go with the Gruyere cheese
because the bite of the cheese, against the creaminess
of the bechamel sauce, it is such a winner.
All right, you guys, I hope you give this one a try.
Let me know what you think.
Tag me on Instagram with your photos,
and I'll re-gram my favorites.
All right, you guys, I'll see you next week, bye.