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Slow cooking brings out the best in winter vegetables with 7 great gratins

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Here’s what you do: Take almost any root vegetable, slice it fairly thin, bake it in cream and then brown it under a blanket of cheese.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re preparing a side dish for a big holiday roast, or just something warm to serve with a green salad to tide you over while you’re recovering. The gratin is a winter cook’s best friend.

When you’re shopping for root vegetables, the same rules apply whether you’re buying celery root (or celeriac), turnips, parsnips or even potatoes (technically, a tuber, not a root). You want to choose examples that are firm, with no soft or moist spots, and heavy for their size.

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Most root vegetables can be stored at cool room temperature, out of direct sunlight and in a place that allows the air to circulate. The more delicate types – parsnips, beets, turnips – are better refrigerated.

Preparing them is easy. Most root vegetables come wrapped in a most unattractive coat. If it’s thick and tough (celery root), use a sharp heavy chef’s knife to cut it away. If it’s thinner and more delicate, a vegetable peeler will work just fine.

The thing to remember when cooking root vegetables is that winter is a slow season. Take your time. This isn’t the stuff for quick sautes. Even after slicing, roast at low temperature until they’re tender enough to pierce with a fork.

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You can roast before gratineeing if you like – without cream, the vegetables will caramelize and their sweetness will become a little more rounded and pronounced. Or you can simply bake them in a bath of cream or cream sauce. Cheese always helps.

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