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Kale Fennel & Rice Gratin
Our Kale Fennel & Rice Gratin is a delicious side dish, or it can be served as a meatless meal.
Ingredients
1 cup cooked white rice *
1-2 bunches of Tuscan Kale removed from stems and chopped (8 cups) **
2 cups sliced fennel (one large head) **
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups sweet onion diced, such as Vidalia
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon dry thyme leaves
4 whole eggs
3/4 cup light cream
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Dash of hot sauce
Few grinds fresh nutmeg
2 cups Gruyere Swiss cheese, shredded (about 6 ounces in weight)
1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- *If preparing rice from scratch, place ½ cup of white rice in a small sauce pan and add one cup of water. Cover, bring to boil, lower to the lowest heat and let barely simmer covered for 12 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff and cool. Rice should be a bit under cooked. Set aside.
- **For Kale, pinch the leaves near the thick end of the stem and pull the leaves down to the end of the stem, keeping your fingers pushed against the stem as you pull down (basically you are pulling the leaves off in one long slide). Discard stems and lay out leaves on top of each other, roll the long way like a tube shape and start slicing slices from one end to the other. Then run the knife through the pile a few times.
- Next, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add kale. Boil for five minutes then drain, discarding water. Set aside.
- ***For fennel, trim off fronds, leaving bulb. Cut any browned outer edges off and cut the bulb in half from top to bottom. Remove the stem from each half with a sharp knife and discard. Lay a half bulb down on its cut side and begin slicing quarter inch slices from one end to the other. You should finish with 2 cups of sliced fennel.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Heat a large skillet or deep heavy bottomed pan or pot over medium to medium high heat and add the three tablespoons of olive oil.
- Add onions and fennel and cook, stirring often for five minutes.
- Add drained blanched kale and chopped garlic along with dry thyme. Cook stirring often for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. (I poured mine out onto a platter to cool quicker)
- In a large bowl, beat eggs, cream, salt, pepper, dry mustard, hot sauce and nutmeg.
- Add in grated Swiss and stir to combine.
- Stir in cooled rice and cooled kale mixture. If you add while hot, you will have scrambled eggs.
- Spray a 10” round, 2” deep baking dish with pan spray and pour in mixture.
- In a small bowl, mix breadcrumbs with Parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the top.
- Finally drizzle the two tablespoons of olive oil over the top and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to brown and then serve hot.
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