Recipe: Scalloped sunchokes and potatoes

March 6, 3:41 PMBoston Sustainable Food ExaminerLeah Bloom

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Lining the pan with foil made clean-up of this very
cheesy dish a breeze.

I am getting a little desperate about all the root vegetables that keep turning up on my doorstep.  Okay, so they're turning up in my Boston Organics Dogma Box, which I have ordered knowing full well that this time of year, root vegetables and the occasional cellared apple are all I'm going to get.  But it's March, for crying out loud.  I'm ready for a change of pace.

In an attempt to keep it interesting, I've been coming up with ways to incorporate root vegetables into dishes that have other things going for them, like, for example, lots and lots of cheese.  That's how I came up with the idea for this recipe:

Scalloped Sunchokes and Potatoes

• 2 cups thinly sliced onions
• 9 tbsp butter
• 6 tbsp flour
• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 lb potatoes
• 1 lb sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem artichokes)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup grated colby jack
• 1/3 cup bread crumbs

1. Sautee the onions in 2 tbsp of butter, cooking until translucent and soft.
2. Meanwhile, peel or scrub the potatoes and sunchokes and slice them thinly.  I used the 2mm blade on my food processor for this.  Toss with a splash of lemon juice or keep covered with water to prevent discoloration of the cut vegetables.
3. Make a roux by melting 6 tbsp of butter and mixing in the flour.  Cook for 3 minutes on medium heat.
4. Slowly add the milk to the roux, stirring constantly to prevent clumps from forming.  When all the milk is incorporated, season the sauce with salt and pepper to taste, and let boil for ~ 1 minute.
5. Pour a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of a roasting pan, then lay down a layer of potato and sunchoke slices.  Top this with 1/3 of the onions and half of the colby jack.  Repeat for another 2 layers of sauce, vegetables, and cheese, putting the parmesan cheese in the middle layer.
6. Top dish with sprinkled bread crumbs and dot it with remaining butter.  Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 20 minutes, until a fork easily pierces the layers and the top is golden.