Sunchoke Gratin

What's a sunchoke, you might ask? It's a Jerusalem artichoke, part of the sunflower family. They are gnarly and have a nutty flavor. This gratin will work well with any starchy root vegetable, such as potato, parsnip, turnip, or with fennel. Adapted from a local chef, James McDevitt.

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2  cups heavy cream
• 2  lbs  jerusalem artichokes, peeled (sunchokes)
•  butter
• 2  cups gruyere cheese, grated
• 1  cup parmesan cheese, grated
•  salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Reduce cream in a heavy saucepan over medium heat by about 1/3. Slice sunchokes very thin with a mandolin or in a food processor.
2. Butter a small casserole or 8 inch square baking dish. Arrange a thin layer of sunchokes. Top with a few spoonfuls of cream, a few spoons of both cheeses, salt and pepper. Continue layering until you have used all the sunchokes. The top layer should be cheese.
3. Bake 45 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife. Run under the broiler for a few minutes to brown top, if desired.