Meat Smoke Fire

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Cheesy Leek Gratin

Cheesy Leek Gratin

This is one of Andrea aka Meat Smoke Fire Cameragirl’s favourite vegetable side dish: Cheesy Leeks. This recipe combines the creamy richness of cheese sauce with the mild sweet leek flavour.  In this particular version we’ve added a breadcrumb topping to transform it into a gratin; it’s equally as good without the crunchy topping.

This is a great pairing with your favourite roast or dinner, our particular favourite is with a rotisserie gammon, which can be cooked alongside your main course on the Big Green Egg.  Cheesy Leek Gratin is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser in the Meat Smoke Fire house.

Cooking surfaces

Plate setter icon

BBQ Temperature

200°C

Ingredients

  • 3 medium leeks, trimmed
  • 50g butter
  • 50g plain flour
  • 500ml milk
  • 150g cheddar cheese, grated
  • 2 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 2 handfuls breadcrumbs, optional
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • oil, for cooking

Method

    1. Setup your Big Green Egg for an indirect cook with the stainless steel grid on top of your ConvEGGtor.  Set your Egg to 200°C.
    2. Cut your leeks into 2cm rounds and pop into the bottom of an ovenproof baking dish.  We don’t cook our leeks but if you wanted to shorten the cooking time you could steam for 6 to 8 minutes until the leeks are tender.
    3. To make the sauce, you start with a classic roux, so melt the butter in a pan and then stir in the flour.  Keep stirring, you’re looking to make a thick paste.  Once you’ve got a paste, give it a couple of minutes to cook the flour; you’ll start to see bubbles forming in the paste.
    4. Add the milk gradually, a bit at a time, stirring continously, until all the milk has been added.  As the milk heats up, it will start to thicken, so keep stirring to avoid any lumps forming.
    5. You’re looking for the sauce to coat the back of a spoon, at this point you can stir in the dijon mustard.
    6. Remove from the heat and add the cheese.  The cheese will melt in the residual heat of the sauce.  If you plan to add breadcrumbs, then keep back a little cheese to mix through the breadcrumbs.
    7. Taste the sauce; we season with a little salt and lots of ground black pepper.  We might even add a bit more mustard and or cheese depending how the sauce tastes.
    8. Now you can pour the cheese sauce into the dish to cover the leeks.  If you’re making the gratin, you can add the breadcrumb topping at this stage.
    9. Place the dish on the grid and cook for about 40 minutes until the top is crisp and bubbling and the leeks have softened.
    10. Once cooked, remove from the heat and serve with your favourite roast or preferred dinner.

     

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