As I look at this picture, I realize that I might have done better with a shot of the whole casserole dish rather than an individual serving. Nonetheless, I can’t tell you how delicious this is. I served it the other night as the main course. It’s so rich and comforting. In my book it’s comfort food at its best. I could have eaten this and this alone for dinner. I didn’t need the two vegetable salads that I served as side dishes. They were great but I found this to be outstanding. I do love a good gratin.

I’ll most definitely make this again, but I’ll make sure I have some time. This dish is heavy on prep. It took quite a while to clean, de-stem and chop the Swiss chard. It also took a while to peel the sweet potatoes and slice them thinly. The bechamel sauce and assembly of the gratin took a little time as well, but in the end it was all worth it.

Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin
Recipe ever so slightly adapted from SmittenKitchen

1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 pounds Swiss chard, leaves and stems separated and both cut into 1-inch pieces
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups heavy cream
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flour
2 pounds medium red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick rounds
1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 3/4 cups (about 8 ounces) coarsely grated Gruyére cheese

Prep greens: Cook onion in 2 tablespoons butter in a wide 8-quart heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Add chard stems, pinch of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, until vegetables are tender but not browned, about 8 minutes. Increase heat to moderately high and add chard leaves by large handfuls, stirring, until all greens are wilted. Season with salt and pepper then transfer greens to a colander to drain well and press out liquid with back of a large spoon.

Make Bechamel sauce: Combine cream or milk and garlic in small saucepan; bring to simmer; keep warm. Melt two tablespoons butter in a medium heavy saucepan over moderate heat and stir in flour. Cook roux, whisking, one minute, then slowly whisk in warm cream/milk and boil, whisking, one minute. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Assemble gratin: Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter deep 9×13 baking dish. Spread half of sweet potatoes in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, a quarter of the herbs and a 1/4 cup of the cheese. Distribute half of the greens mixture over the cheese, then sprinkle salt, pepper, a quarter of the herbs and 1/4 cup of the cheese over it. Pour half of bechamel sauce over the first two layers then continue with the remaining sweet potatoes, more salt, pepper, herbs and cheese and then the remaining greens, salt, pepper and herbs. Pour the remaining sauce over the top of the gratin, pressing the vegetables slightly to ensure that they are as submerged as possible. Sprinkle with the last 1/4 cup of cheese.

Bake gratin for about 1 hour until golden and bubbly, and most of the liquid is absorbed. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Yield: 10 servings

One year ago: Nieman Marcus Chicken Salad
Two years ago: Pepper Jack, Chicken and Peach Quesadillas
Three years ago: Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
Four years ago: Grilled Tuna with Herbed Aïoli