Vegan potato gratin with miso cashew cream

August 29, 2022

   

Cindy's been subscribed to the ABC Everyday newsletter since they started regularly including Hetty McKinnon recipes. She spotted this vegan miso potato gratin recently and we made it an immediate cooking priority. It takes a good chunk of time to cook this, but it's remarkably easy: blend up the cashew cream, slice up the potatoes and then combine them and bake. The end result is great - maybe not quite as creamy as a classic gratin, but rich and delicious, with the miso adding a subtle savoury note to the cashew cream base. The recipe as written makes heaps, so you might want to halve it unless you've got a big gang around for dinner or an insatiable appetite for potatoes. We used dried thyme instead of fresh because it was more convenient and it worked a treat, so don't be afraid to sub it in for the fresh.

    

   

Vegan potato gratin with miso cashew cream

(based on this Hetty McKinnon recipe)

1.5kg starchy potatoes, cut into 1/2cm wide discs

Olive oil

2 sprigs fresh thyme (we used a teaspoon of dried thyme)

salt and pepper

cashew cream

2 cups of raw cashews

3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons white miso

1 cup stock

1 cup soy milk

4 sprigs thyme/2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt

Preheat your oven to 180°C.

Whiz all the cashew cream ingredients in a blender until it's as smooth as possible

Drizzle a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into the base of a large baking dish (Hetty recommends 25 x 25cm, we wound up using two smaller ones)

Lay out the sliced potato in the baking dish so that they're overlapping - it's okay to crowd them in pretty tight.

Pour over the cashew cream and bake, covered, for 65 minutes - the potatoes should be pretty soft.

Take the lid off the baking dish and drizzle in a bit more oil, before baking for another 10-15 minutes at 220°C to finish.

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.