Gratins
All our favorites
Tagliatelles with spinach and mushrooms
My oldest friend Mouna H K has fed us for years ever since we cohabited in Paris when studying at ISG. In those days, family friends used to bring food from Lebanon sent by Mouna's mother. Her fridge was always filled with Kebbe, stuffed wine leaves, weird vegetables from her grand father's garden in Tripoli and sweets. When living in Dubai, she always sent me home with food in Tupperware boxes. I have never eaten as much as with her...

Ingredients
- 1 kg spinach chopped grossly
- 1 bunch corriander chopped
- 5 garlic
- 250gr mushrooms diced
- 1 liter cream
- 2 packs of fresh tagliatelles (replaced by zuccini spirals)
- Grated cheese
- Nutmeg
- 4 spices
Cook pasta or spiralize zuccini. Fry garlic, corriander and mushrooms in oil. Add spinach + salt&pepper. Cook 5 minutes. Add cream and nutmeg, 4 spices, salt&pepper. Cook until boiling.
In long pan, put first a layer of pasta/zuccini, then mixture, cheese, repeat. Last layer butter on top. Bake in 200° for 25 minutes.
Gnochis gratins

Ingredients
- 500gr gnocchi
- 500ml tomato puree
- 2 pinches of chilli powder
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 40ml vegetable broth
- basil chopped
- 3dl parmesan cheese grated
- 2 packs of mozzarella cheese sliced
In a bowl, mix tomatoes with chilli, garlic, broth, basil and 1/3 of parmesan cheese. Add gnocchis. In oven dish, put layers first of gnocchi then mozzarella cheese, gnocchi on top. Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese over last layer.
Bake @ 225° for 20 minutes.
Potato & salmon gratin
The ultimate Swedish dish

Ingredients
- 400gr fresh salmon or 500gr
- 1kg potatoes sliced (8-10) or 20
- 1 oignon or 1.5
- 1dl dill
- 400ml milk or 700ml
- 3 eggs or 5
Butter a dish medium size. Alternate layers of potato / oignon / dill / salmon. Last a layer potatoes. Mix milk + eggs and pour over until covers layers.
Cook @ 225° for 1 hour.
Jeff & Yvette's potato gratin
Who stole from whom?

Ingredients
- 8 potatoes sliced
- 1 pot crème fraîche
- 1 tin of concentrated milk
Mix crème + milk + salt/pepper and pour over potatoes in pan. Put cold into oven. Cook @ 185° for 1 hour.
Classic rice & vegetable gratin
In the South of France, the most commonly used and abused vegetable is squash (courgette). This is often used for this recipe as it contains a lot of water and has little taste.

Ingredients
- 4 courgettes diced (if organic not peeled)
- 1 cup of rice
- 2 eggs
- 100ml cream/milk
- 1 pack grated cheese
Cook rice and courgettes (until still little hard) separately. Mash courgettes with a fork, add to rice. Mix eggs with cream/milk, cheese and seasoning. Pour over rice/courgettes and put into oven pan. Cover with cheese on top and cook at 210° for 30mn.
For a lighter version, do not add rice, take 4 eggs instead and replace the cream by broth.
Yvette's terrine

Ingredients
- 500gr carrots, pumpking, sweet potato, zucchini... cut into small pieces
- 40gr butter
- Salt, pepper & sugar
- 100ml cream
- Nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- Orange peel grated
- Herbs (basil, etc)
Fry carotts (or other vegetables) in butter, add salt, pepper and sugar, cover with water. Mix with cream, nutmeg, eggs, orange peel and herbs. Cook at 180° for 40 minutes in water bath (put the silicone cake pan into a larger one filled up to half with water).
Aurelie's fennel flan
We met in Dubai sometime around 1999. We both had two small children (her: Chloé & Serafin, me: Alexandre & Louis) more or less the same ages. We both had a third child there (Emilien for her and Elisa for me).

Ingredients
- 4 fennel
- 40gr butter
- 2 tbsp flour
- 250ml milk
- 3 eggs
- 50gr parmesan
Cook fennel, drain and chop. Make béchamel sauce by putting butter + milk + flour in a pan at once and stirring until thick. Add egg yolks one at a time. Then add cheese and fennel. Pour in long pan and cook at 180° for 45 minutes.
Florence's potato gratin
We met just around my 30th birthday. Florence moved to Dubai on her own to start a new life, which she did manage with record speed. Within 3 months she met Sebastian (her husband).

Ingredients
- 8 potatoes sliced very thin
- 2 pears sliced
- 500ml cream
- Pepper sauce (ready made)
- Garlic
- Grated cheese
Mix cream + pepper sauce + nutmeg. Add potatoes and pears. Ssprinkle with grated cheese. Bake in oven pan at 220° for at least 1 hour. It should have a dark brown color (almost burnt).
