Mustard-punch sweet potato gratin

 

Layers of sweet potato, vegan ham and vegan cheese slices, covered with a creamy mustard sauce and topped with vegan cheese.


Hola!

Today I bring you a mustard-punch sweet potato gratin. It’s a hybrid between a potato gratin and a dauphinoise, which I used to love before I was vegan, but with layers of sweet potato, vegan ham and vegan cheese slices. And why the “punch”? Because that is what the creamy mustard sauce gives you, but very gently. And there are hidden beans, to make your gut flora happy. A major perk of this recipe is that it is so simple that the veg prep is minimal. You just have to slice the sweet potato!

PLANT POWER, MAKE UP!

My mum used to make a wicked potato gratin, but with layers of ham and cheese and no sauce. It all started veganising that, but then I remembered how indulgent a dauphinoise is, and I decided to add my bean bechamel sauce. However, there was a final twist. When you use sweet potato to cook savoury things, it tends to give a very sweet flavour. I thought that a nice mustard touch would bring you back to the land of savoury, and it worked perfectly. 


MUSTARD-PUNCH SWEET POTATO GRATIN

Serves: 4-5 people
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes


INGREDIENTS

4 sweet potatoes
2x 200g vegan cheese slices
3x 100g vegan ham slices

Creamy mustard sauce
2 cups unsweetened soya milk
2 cups water
4 tbsp. cornflour
2x 400g cans of butter beans (480g drained weight)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp. mustard sauce
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. saffron powder or 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
3 garlic cloves
1 vegetable stock cube

Toppings
2 tbsp. vegan parmesan (optional)
2 tbsp. ground almonds
Dry rosemary
Dry thyme


INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Bake the whole sweet potatoes in the oven or air fryer (roast setting) until soft and fully cooked. Let cool down.
  2. For the creamy mustard sauce, add the soya milk and water to a saucepan and dissolve the cornflour. Turn the heat on to medium and add the rest of the ingredients. Blend with a hand blender and bring to a boil, stirring continuously. Turn the heat off and set aside. It might not be thick now, but it will thicken in the oven.
  3. Peel and slice the sweet potatoes into 2-3mm thick slices and alternate layers of sweet potato with vegan ham, vegan cheese and mustard sauce, then sweet potato again and start over. Finally, cover with the remaining sweet potato slices and pour the remaining sauce on top.
  4. Cover with tin foil and put it in a preheated oven at 200C for 20 minutes. Take out, sprinkle on top the vegan parmesan, ground almonds, rosemary and thyme, turn the grill on and cook uncovered at the top of the oven for another 10 minutes, until golden and crunchy.

You can keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze it, so this is great for batch cooking.

Bon profit!