It sounds fancy and impressive, and it's just as tasty too. Layers of thinly sliced potatoes with chunks of artichokes in a creamy cashew cheese sauce and topped by crunchy seasoned breadcrumbs. This vegan dish is so moorish you'll be unable to stop at one serving.
What is usually meant to last us a weekend gets gobbled up in one sitting. This dish is perfect as a side or on its own, and it's pretty easy to make too. This recipe uses canned artichokes, but if you like you can substitute for fresh artichokes too.
You'll want to make this your comfort food.
Ingredients:
2-3 cans artichoke hearts, roughly chopped
1 pound potatoes, thinly sliced to about 1/8th inch thickness
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion (finely chopped)
5 cloves garlic (crushed and finely chopped)
2 tbsp fresh thyme (sub 2 tsp dry thyme)
1 cup raw cashews (soaked in hot water for a couple of hours, or overnight in cold water)
1 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tbsp nutritional yeast
juice of half lemon
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
For breadcrumb topping:
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh thyme
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
To make:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Heat oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until onions are softened.
Add the artichoke hearts and the thyme and continue to cook another 5-10 minutes until the artichokes are just tender. Check seasoning and turn off heat.
Drain soaked cashews and place then in the blender with garlic powder, salt and ground black pepper to taste and 1 cup water. Add lemon juice, apple cider vinegar and nutritional yeast to taste. Blend until smooth.
To assemble the gratin, layer and overlap half the potatoes in the bottom of a baking dish approx. 10 inches by 8 inches and 2 inches deep.
Spoon the artichoke mixture on top of the potatoes in an even layer.
Cover the artichoke mixture with the remaining potatoes. You can arrange them in a decorative way to make the dish look nicer.
Pour the cashew mixture over the gratin evenly. Press down on the potatoes with a spatula to submerge them as far as possible.
Cover the baking dish tightly with baking paper. Place in the oven and bake 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
Mix the breadcrumbs with the olive oil, nutritional yeast, thyme, and salt and black pepper. Remove the baking dish carefully from the oven, remove the baking paper, and sprinkle the breadcrumb topping over the gratin.
Return the gratin to the oven, without the covering, and bake another 10-15 minutes or until the breadcrumb topping is golden and crunchy.
Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.
Bon appétit!
