The Pantry Staple To Give Your Gratins An Elevated Texture

We always hear about casseroles getting all the love as weeknight dinner saviors, but have you met casserole's French cousin, au gratin? If you've never heard of an au gratin (or just gratin for short) before, it's a French culinary term that refers to a dish with a cheese and breadcrumb topping being baked in the oven or broiled until crisp. A gratin is comparable to a baked mac n' cheese with a crispy topping, but instead of macaroni, it's usually sliced veggies (commonly potatoes) baked with a cheesy, crunchy crust. It's definitely a great way to level-up your vegetable side dishes. But while both the cheese and breadcrumbs are important components in a gratin, it's the breadcrumbs that you really don't want to skip out on, since they provide such a nice textural contrast to the tender veggies and gooey dairy.

Sure, you can add breadcrumbs to a regular casserole, but since it's already often a hodge-podge of ingredients thrown into a dish, a neutral option such as plain panko breadcrumbs is sometimes the only kind of topping that doesn't compete with the other flavors. On the other hand, the beauty of a gratin is that there's more flexibility with the choice of breadcrumb topping used since the layers beneath tend to be simple vegetables such as cauliflower, eggplant, or green beans. That being said, whatever crunchy element you already have stored away in your pantry has the possibility to be turned into breadcrumbs for your next gratin — and bonus points if it is already flavored.

Perhaps in your pantry you have a box of buttery crackers that are at their wits' end, with crumbs pretty much all that's left. Those are what I call bits of gold for a gratin breadcrumb topping! The soft buttery flavor would pair perfectly sprinkled on a layer of melty mozzarella cheese on top of summer squash, eggplant, and tomatoes. Or maybe you have a bag of the best barbecue chips ever that are just begging to be blitzed into breadcrumbs? Pile them onto the cheddar cheese that sits atop tender broccoli and cauliflower florets before broiling until crispy. Alternatively, add some finely chopped nuts to your breadcrumbs to amp up the flavor, richness, and texture.

With any complementary combination of vegetables, cheese and breadcrumbs that you use, you'll want to add your vegetable base layer to a greased ceramic or glass (not metal) baking dish. You may need to partially cook your vegetables first, depending on what variety you're using. Add in heavy cream and seasonings of choice, and then a generous blanket of cheese that covers the surface. You can then either repeat with another layer of veggies and cheese on top, or simply stop at one layer. Bake the cheesy veggies until tender, then add the breadcrumbs on top, and bake or broil until the crumbs appear golden brown. Remove from the oven, and do your best to let the dish cool a little before you dig in.