Celery Root and Potato Gratin with a Pecan Thyme Crust

I saw celery root at the market the other day and my hubby told me he had never eaten it before so we got it. It has been ages since I ate or cooked with it and a creamy and crunchy gratin was the perfect way to use it. We ate it as a main course with a simple salad, but it’s also nice to accompany it with some meat.  It makes a great side dish for the holidays.

Ingredients:

1 celery root, peeled and thinly sliced

600gr of potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon of butter

2 shallots, minced

Sprinkle of garlic powder

5 sprigs of thyme

200gr crème fraiche

250gr cream

½ teaspoon of salt or more to taste

Pepper

For the crust:

70gr of pecans, chopped

½ cup Panko

40gr grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup breadcrumbs

10 sprigs of thyme

½ teaspoon of salt

Pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F

Peel and thinly slice the celery root and potatoes. You can use a mandolin or a knife.

Melt the butter in a pan, add the shallots, thyme and garlic powder. Cook until the shallots are translucent.  Remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, mix the crème fraiche, the cream and the melted butter mixture. Add salt and pepper and the sliced celery root and potatoes. Mix with your hands until all the slices are coated.

Coat an oven dish with butter. Then arrange the slices of celery root and potato. With the help of a spatula, scrape all off the cream from the bowl and pour into the oven dish. Shake the dish a bit to let the slices settle.  Bake until the potatoes are tender, you can pierce them with a knife. It will take about 1 hour

To make the crust, just mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Sprinkle the crust over the gratin and then broil until golden. Be careful not to burn it.

Serve warm.