Camélia's Sweet Potato Gratin

• servings: Potato Gratin 6-8 SERVIN

Ingredients

1 dried bay leaf

3 Ib. Japanese sweet potatoes (about

4 large or 6 small) or other sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1"

Kosher salt

8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for dish

2 Tbsp. white miso

1 Tbsp. honey

1 medium shallot, halved, thinly sliced

3 small sprigs thyme, leaves picked

Freshly ground pepper

2 oz. Fontina cheese, coarsely grated (about ½ cup) oz.

2 oz Gruyère, coarsely grated (about 1/2 cup)

Aonori (dried powdered seaweed) or crushed seasoned toasted nori snacks and thinly sliced chives (for serving)

Directions

Cook bay leaf and sweet potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until potatoes are fork-tender, 20-25 minutes.

Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid; discard bay leaf. Set aside; reserve pot.

Meanwhile, place a rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 400°. Lightly coat an 8x8" baking dish or 1 ½-qt. oval baking dish with butter. Stir together miso, honey, and 8 Tbsp. butter in a small bowl until smooth. Transfer 1 Tbsp. miso butter to another small bowl; set aside.

Melt 2 Tbsp. (heaping) miso butter in reserved pot over medium heat. Add shallot and thyme; cook, stirring often with a heatproof rubber spatula, until shallot is softened, about 4 minutes.

Remove pot from heat. Add reserved sweet potatoes and remaining miso butter from first bowl (a little less than 5 Tbsp.) and toss to coat. Mash sweet potatoes with spatula, adding a splash of sweet potato cooking liquid as needed, until mostly creamy with some intact pieces remaining (think halfway to mashed potatoes). Season with salt and pepper. Spread sweet potato mixture into an even layer in prepared dish. Top with Fontina cheese and Gruyère; dot with dollops of reserved 1 Tbsp. miso butter. Bake until cheese is melted, 15-20 minutes.

Heat broiler (you can leave gratin in oven). Broil just until cheese is melted and browned in spots, 1-2 minutes. (Watch carefully as the cheese can go quickly from browned to burnt.) Remove gratin from

oven; sprinkle aonori and chives on top.

Notes

This easy side is designed to highlight the beautiful flavor of Japanese sweet potatoes, which get cut into pieces and tossed in a salty-sweet miso butter before being topped with cheese - and hitting the oven. Showered in

savory flakes of nori and fresh chives

when finished, this dish bears little

resemblance to the more traditional potato gratin you might already know.