A vegan creamy gratin? How is this possible? No cheese whatsoever and it’s not even missed? Can you guess the secret ingredient? Nope?
Cashews!
Believe it or not cashews can be used to produce a vegan bechamel-like sauce. I know, I didn’t believe it either at first – but, trust me on this, they really do provide the creaminess you get in a bechamel. Since we’re already braving the unknown with the cashews let’s make the star of the gratin, butternut squash, (instead of the usual potatoes).
If not for the tedious squash slicing process I would be making this a lot more often. Why oh why does butternut squash have to be so difficult to slice? It makes a brand new chef’s knife feel duller than a butter knife. Oh, and the peeling, don’t even get me started. Attempt this recipe with patience, or a kitchen partner who has patience. If you’re using that mandolin – be careful not to slice your fingers off – once you get into a groove and start daydreaming the task becomes incredibly dangerous. I speak from personal experience here – I have numerous mandolin battle wounds.
Once the frustrating squash fiasco is over, the real fun begins – layering the slices, sprinkling the shallots, and spreading the sauce. Pop it in the oven and 40 minutes later get ready to be impressed. Hands down the best gratin I’ve ever had.
Don’t worry if you end up with leftover squash slices — they’re delicious baked as chips.
- 1 pound shallots, thinly sliced
- ½ cup grapeseed oil (or vegetable oil)
- 4-5 pounds butternut squash, peeled and thinly sliced (will be 1½-2 pounds when sliced)
- 1½ cups raw cashews
- 1½ cups chicken or vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- olive oil, for brushing
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Using the ⅛ inch setting on the mandolin slice the butternut squash and the shallots.
- In a pan heat oil over medium heat and add the shallots. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The shallots should brown slowly and if they start to burn reduce the heat.
- Drain shallots and spread them out over a paper towel to let them cool.
- Using the cooking oil from the shallots lightly cook the garlic slices, until slightly browned. Drain on a paper towel.
- To make the sauce add cashews, broth, salt, and garlic to a blender and puree until creamy.
- To assemble the gratin spray a 9×13 inch baking pan with cooking spray and spread ¼ cup of the sauce over the bottom.
- Place the squash slices in the pan, slightly overlapping. Spread ¼ cup sauce over the squash and using the back of a spoon, even the sauce out. Sprinkle lightly with salt, pepper, and some of the shallots.
- Repeat for the rest of the layers until you run out of sauce.
- Top the gratin with squash and brush with olive oil.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until top of the gratin lightly browned. If gratin hasn’t browned to your likely broil it for a few minutes.
Welcome to Avocado Pesto! Long time foodie and travel enthusiast, I started this blog to share my curious culinary efforts and kitchen endeavors. Here you'll find a smorgasbord of ethnic cuisines and hopefully a few humorous tales too.
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
This is nice recipe, I will try it.
Let me know how it works out for you!
This sounds WONDERFUL! The cashew cream sounds like an amazing touch. Great recipe, thank you for sharing.
Thanks for commenting. This was my first time making cashew cream and I couldn’t believe how delicious it was!
Looks really good and your photos are really beautiful! Thanks for sharing!
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Hello!
This recipe looks absolutely to die for! But unfortunately I am deathly allergic to cashews (as well as pecans, walnuts and pistachios), so I was wondering if there is another nut that could be replaced instead? Like maybe pine nuts or macadamias? I would love to make this recipe but have to makeshift with what I can eat! Suggestions?
Thanks,
Jenna
Thanks! So sorry to hear you are allergic to so many different kinds of nuts! In this recipe I think macadamias could work well — just try to buy the raw ones and soak them overnight in warm water before blending them with the other ingredients. Over the past weekend I made a raw vegan cheesecake using macadamias and they definitely provide a creamy texture (recipe will be up later on). Just make sure to blend them thoroughly or in batches to ensure that the texture will be smooth and not gritty. Best of luck. Please let me know how it comes out if you try it with macadamias. As always thanks for visiting!
There are 10 kinds of yum in this recipe. I absolutely adore butternut squash, so I have to test this out the next time.
♥ It’s Carmen
It’s Carmen recently posted..50 Things To Do When You’re Bored
I seriously could not believe how creamy the sauce came out!
So good! I halved the recipe, using a 2 lb squash. I soaked 1 c of cashews and used 1 c. veg broth to make the gratin so there was a bit more gratin in this recipe than the original, but that is not a bad thing. I have made cashew cream before (less liquid) to use instead of sour cream (add lemon for the tang) but this is the first time I have cooked with it. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it! I never imagined cashews could be the base of an alfredo-style sauce but I fell in love with this dish and how the sauce turned out!
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