Gratin is a little bit like macaroni cheese but instead of the macaroni it’s often made with potato. It’s mixed with white sauce (Bechamel sauce) and the top is covered with bread crumbs and cheese. This Roasted Vegetable Gratin is not only made with potatoes but with many different vegetables. It’s very creamy, pleasantly cheesy and packed with nutrients. Moreover, the roasted vegetables add richness in the flavour that create double deliciousness in this dish!If you like creamy kind of baked dish, you will certainly love this dish. The white sauce is very creamy but not in a heavy way as it’s made of sunflower oil, flour, soy milk and cannellini beans. The cheesy flavour in the sauce comes from the nutritional yeast.
What you need to make the roasted vegetable gratin
- onions
- carrot
- celery
- parsnips
- potatoes
- garlic
- cauliflower
- curly kale
- oil
- plain flour
- soy milk
- cannellini beans
- nutritional yeast
- mixed herbs
- salt and black pepper
- bread crumbs
- vegan cheese (optional)
For the roasted vegetables, you can use any veggies that are suitable for roasting such as mushrooms, aubergine, butternut squash as so on. For the white sauce, I used cannellini beans but you can use butter beans or other types of white beans. If you can’t get nutritional yeast in your area, sub with vegan cheese. Just blend 30-40g of the cheese in the white sauce with an immersion blender .
Quick making guide
The making process is quite simple. The first thing you need to to do is roasting the vegetables except the curly kale for about 30 minutes. While they are roasting, make the white sauce, make sure you use an immersion blender to make it smooth after the cannellini beans (and vegan cheese if you are replacing the nutritional yeast)are added. Put in the curly kale into the hot white sauce, stir then add in the roasted vegetables and mix everything well. Pour the contents into a rectangular baking tin and bake for 30-35 minutes at 200°C. After it’s baked, let it sit for 10 minutes before cutting into portions.
Please check the full recipe below if you are trying this recipe.
If you are looking to cook warm, comfort vegan dish that is satisfyingly creamy, this is the one you should give it a try! Take a look at my vegan macaroni cheese and vegan pasta bake, which are also quite creamy☺Roasted Vegetable Gratin
Ingredients
For the roasted vegetables
- 2 medium onions chopped
- 1 large carrot chopped
- 2 stalks celery chopped
- 2 medium parsnips chopped
- 3 medium potatoes chopped
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 250 g cauliflower chopped
- 1-2 tbsp oil I used sunflower oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the white sauce
- 70 g oil I used sunflower oil
- 70 g plain flour
- 1000 ml soy milk
- 1 can cannellini beans washed and drained
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp mixed herbs
- some salt and black pepper for seasoning
Other things
- 100 g curly kale washed and hard stalk bits removed
- some bread crumbs
- 40 g vegan cheese (optional) cut into small pieces
Instructions
For roasted vegetables
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (gas mark6). 1. Prepare a baking tray lined with baking paper. 2. Prepare a rectangular baking tin (about 25cm x 30cm or similar size), grease with some oil. Set aside.
- Chop all of the vegetables. I didn't peel the potatoes and the parsnips as we like the skins but you can peel them if you want to.
- Put all of the vegetables together in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with the oil and sprinkle with the salt. Mix thoroughly to coat the vegetables.
- Place the vegetables on the prepared baking tray. Don't worry about overlapping a little. Pop it in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until they are cooked and slightly caramelised. Don't forget to give it a stir half way through the cooking.
For the white sauce
- While the vegetables are cooking in the oven, prepare the white sauce. Heat the oil in a large pot (I used a stock pot) on a lower medium heat. Put in the flour and mix for a minute until combined.
- With one of your hand, slowly start adding about 1/3 of the soy milk while the other hand stirring the mixture. Keep stirring for a minute then slowly add 1/2 of the remaining soy milk, stir for a minute. Add the rest of the milk and continue stirring until the mixture starts thickening up a little. Don't worry if there are lumps of flour, they will be gone when you use an immersion in the next step. Turn off the heat.
- Add the cannellini beans and nutritional yeast in the mixture and stir. Take out one of the garlic cloves that are roasting in the oven and put in. With an immersion blender, blend the mixture until smooth. Add the mixed herbs and season with the salt and black pepper.
- Cook on a low heat for a few minutes until you have a thick white sauce consistency. Please keep stirring the sauce constantly to avoid burning and sticking. Take off from the heat when it's done.
Putting everything together
- Put the curly kale into the hot white sauce in the sauce pan and stir until the kale wilts a little. Drop all of the roasted vegetables in and mix everything together well. Pour into the prepared baking tin and sprinkle the top with some bread crumbs and vegan cheese (optional).
- Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden. When it's baked, please let it sit outside the oven for about 10 minutes before serving. This will make it easy to cut into portions.
- Leftovers should be kept in the fridge and reheated thoroughly in the oven or microwave before serving.