Mushroom and Kale Panade
Can a casserole be elegant? This tangle of bread, veggies and cheese says it can.
Ingredients
- 7 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 loaf crusty bread (baguette, Italian bread), sliced and slightly stale (if you don’t have stale bread, leave the sliced bread on a cooling rack for 24 hours)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 10 ounces chopped kale
- 10 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups Gruyere, divided
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 3 tablespoons 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 2 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- Freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- With 1 tablespoon of butter, grease a 9"x13" casserole dish (cooking spray is ok). Line the bottom of the dish with sliced bread. Set aside.
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add onions. Saute until the onion is soft and translucent. Season with ¼ teaspoon of salt. Transfer to a bowl.
- In the same pan, melt another tablespoon of butter over medium heat and saute the kale until the stems are soft and the leaves are bright green. Season with ¼ teaspoon of salt. Transfer to a bowl.
- In the same pan, melt another tablespoon of butter over medium heat and saute the mushrooms until all the water has evaporated. Season with ¼ teaspoon of salt. Transfer to a bowl.
- Layer the kale, mushrooms, cooked onions and a half cup of the Gruyere on top of the bread layer in the casserole dish. Alternate with vegetables, cheese and bread with bread as the last layer. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, reduce the wine by half. Transfer to a bowl.
- In the same small saucepan, add the remaining tablespoon of butter and melt over medium heat. Add flour. Mix with a wooden spoon and cook until fragrant and slightly brown.
- Stir in chicken stock, reduced wine and milk.
- Heat until slightly thickened. Add 1 cup of Gruyere and stir until melted. Remove from heat and let cool for about five minutes.
- In the jar of a blender, combine the wine mixture with the egg. Blend on high for about ten seconds. Add a grind of pepper and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
- Pour the mixture evenly over the layers of bread and vegetables in the casserole dish. Top with the remaining cheese. Cover with heat-resistant plastic wrap then add a layer of aluminum foil.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the plastic and foil and return the panade to the oven and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.