Vegetable Au Gratin With Smoked Cheese has a distinct taste of the cheese even after it is baked. Au Gratin is generally baked with lots of cheese, mostly in a shallow dish, topped with extra cheese before baking to give it a crusted appearance upon baking.
Thanks to my sister-in-law, Manju, who brought me this smoked cheese from Amsterdam. I had never tasted or used this form of cheese earlier. This smoked cheese variety from the regions of Netherlands is wrapped in an elongated manner and looks similar to a sausage. See the picture below.
What is Smoked Cheese?
Smoked cheese is a process where the cheese is flavoured, browned, cooked, or preserved by exposing it to smoke from burning wood.
The Westzaner smoked cheese (the one I have used in the Vegetable Au Gratin with Smoked Cheese) is a specially melted, molded and smoked cheese with authentic Oakwood chips, which makes it uniquely scrumptious and gives it a crunchy feel.
I was quite intrigued by the packaging process and how a smoked cheese would taste when baked or cooked. I decided to use this smoked cheese in the au gratin I had planned for lunch that day. Au Gratin, as you all know is a dish from the French cuisine where the ingredients are baked along with white sauce and topped with plenty of cheese.
The way I made this Au Gratin with Smoked Cheese is with lots of vegetables and two types of cheeses; the smoked Westzaner cheese from Amsterdam and regular Amul cheddar cheese.
For those who will be trying this Vegetable Au Gratin with Smoked Cheese, a variety of smoked cheese is available in Indian stores now, you may try in Godrej Nature’s Basket or Amazon online stores.
The taste was loved by the family. I served it with toasted french bread (the baguette), which is a long loaf with a hard crust. The baguette I bought was already flavoured with garlic. Otherwise, all you need to do is take some olive oil or butter, mix some crushed garlic, mix it well. Spread this on the bread and lightly toast it.
| Prep Time | 20 minutes |
| Cook Time | 40 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1 carrot cut into cubes
- 10 french beans cut into pieces
- 1 potato cut into cubes
- 2 tbsp green peas fresh or frozen
- 2 tbsp corn fresh or frozen
- 2 tbsp cheddar cheese grated
- 2 tbsp smoked cheese grated
- 2 tbsp refined flour
- 2 tbsp butter
- 250 ml milk
- 1 tbsp cheddar cheese grated
- 1 tbsp smoked cheese grated
- crushed black pepper to taste
- chilli flakes to taste (optional)
- salt to taste
Ingredients
For the White Sauce
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- Parboil all the vegetables for few minutes. Take care not to over cook them. All the vegetables must be a little under cooked to allow them to cook further while baking. Drain the vegetables and run cold water over it. Keep aside.
- Heat the butter in a pan, add the flour and saute on low heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Next add the milk and keep stirring so that lumps do not form. According to the consistency desired a little more milk or water may be used. Allow this to boil.
- Add both the grated cheeses, salt, pepper, chilli flakes (optional). Mix well and remove from stove. Add the vegetables to this and adjust taste at this stage.
- Take a oven proof shallow dish, pour the prepared vegetables and white sauce into it. Add grated smoked cheese as well as grated cheddar cheese evenly all over on top.
- Pre-heat the oven at 200 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. The cheese would have melted to form a layer on the top.
- Serve the au gratin with toasted, garlic-flavoured french bread or any other bread.
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