Baked potato and pumpkin gratin with crisp golden edges
A baked potato and pumpkin gratin with thin slices stacked upright, seasoned with parmesan and rosemary and roasted until the top edges turn crisp and golden.
Are you looking for a side dish that makes an impression at the table but is built from two ingredients that cost almost nothing?
Then this potato and pumpkin gratin is what you need. I will walk you through slicing, seasoning and slotting the pieces upright to get a striped orange and gold dish, tender inside and crisp along the top.
The idea is simple: instead of laying the slices flat as in a classic gratin, you stand them up. That way every slice exposes its edge to the oven heat, and the surface becomes dozens of crunchy tips while the centre stays soft and creamy.
There are at least three good reasons to make it: it costs very little, it can be assembled ahead and baked at the last minute, and it looks far more impressive than the effort it takes.
The step not to skip is covering the dish with foil for the first stage. Without it, the top edges burn long before the potatoes are cooked. Under the foil the vegetables steam themselves tender, and only at the end do you uncover them to gratinate.
Serve it warm, cut into squares with a spatula, alongside a roast or a simple omelette. The next day it reheats in the oven and stays excellent.
Ready? Let’s get started with the baked potato and pumpkin gratin.
To make this recipe
A small selection of handy tools to keep within reach. Some links may be affiliate links.
Oven tray or baking dish
Perfect for baking meatballs and vegetables. Choose a non-stick tray for better results and easy cleaning.
Steps
- Peel the potatoes and slice them 2 mm thick with a mandoline or a very sharp knife. Do the same with the pumpkin, aiming for slices of a similar size: uniformity is what gives even cooking.
- Put all the slices in a large bowl with the oil, the very finely chopped garlic, the torn rosemary, half the parmesan, salt and pepper, and mix with your hands until every slice is coated.
- Oil a rectangular dish or a cake tin and stand the slices upright, alternating potato and pumpkin and packing them tightly side by side until the dish is full.
- If gaps appear, slot in extra slices to keep the structure tight: a tightly packed gratin holds its shape when cut, a loose one collapses.
- Cover with foil and bake at 190°C (375°F) in a conventional oven for 35 minutes: at this stage the vegetables cook in their own steam and turn tender.
- Remove the foil, scatter over the remaining parmesan and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the exposed edges are golden and crisp and a knife slides in without resistance.
- Let it rest for 10 minutes before serving, so the slices settle and the portions stay whole.
Helpful tips
Use a mandoline if you have one: an exact 2 mm is the difference between an elegant dish and one with raw slices next to burnt ones.
The covered first stage is essential, otherwise the top edges burn long before the centre is cooked.
You can assemble the dish a few hours ahead and bake it at the last minute.
Slip a few slices of provola between the vegetables and it becomes a complete main.
Average nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 250 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 30.0 g
- Sugars
- 6.0 g
- Protein
- 9.0 g
- Fat
- 11.0 g
- Saturated fat
- 4.0 g
- Fiber
- 4.0 g
- Sodium
- 380 mg
You might also like
Related recipes
Selected based on the same practical features as this recipe.
Baked aubergine rounds with cherry tomatoes, served cold
Aubergine rounds baked until meltingly soft, then cooled and topped with finely chopped cherry tomatoes, olive oil and basil. A very simple summer cold dish.
Perfect roast potatoes, crunchy outside and fluffy inside
Genuinely crispy roast potatoes: parboiled, shaken to roughen the surface and roasted with rosemary and garlic until deeply golden and crunchy.
Hachis parmentier, the French beef and potato bake
Classic hachis parmentier: a base of minced beef braised with onion and carrot, covered with mashed potato and gratinated until the top is golden and crisp.