Parsnip and Sausage Gratin

Serves 6

January: Parsnip & Sausage Gratin

I like parsnips but I love sausages and cheese even more! This is a great winter supper recipe. This was recommended by my favourite food writer, Diana Henry and is from the wonderful book entitled, "Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book".

Ingredients

6 medium parsnips 500g sausages pepper, thyme scant 500ml mornay sauce 3 tbsp each grated Gruyère & breadcrumbs 2 tbsp melted butter

Step One

Boil, peel and slice the parsnips until they are just tender. Place half of them into a buttered gratin dish in as even a layer as possible. The recipe says to remove the sauages from their skins (I don't bother with this as who has time!) and spread this sausagemeat over the parsnips and place the remaining parsnips on top. Heat the sauce to something under boiling point and pour over the dish. Mix cheese and breadcrumbs and scatter them over the top; pour on the melted butter. Bake at 180°C for 45-60 minutes. You can brown further under the grill if needed. Serve bubbling hot.