Potato cauliflower gratin

Food blogging has a funny seasonal rhythm, particularly if you read a lot of American blogs. From about the middle of September it's all cider and pumpkins, then November 1st triggers turkey and sweet potatoes, then as soon as Thanksgiving is cleared it is cinnamon, peppermint and cookie trays. For British blogs it is less clearly defined, but the first half of December is usually Christmas recipes and then from the 26th recipes for Christmas leftovers.

I am still going on the Christmas leftovers (posting about them, not eating them - I think even the most robust stomach would rebel).

This gratin was a way of using up the cauliflower puree from our Christmas Day canapes. The puree itself was just cauliflower boiled until tender with a couple of cloves of garlic, then pureed in the food processor with a dollop of mascarpone and a bit of seasoning. It's rich, but hard to do in small quantities, so I had about a cupful left once we'd eaten all we could.

When the time came that it really had to be used, I sliced a couple of potatoes and layered them in a baking dish, smearing layers of the cauliflower puree between the layers of spud. Then I poured some vermouth in, just enough to cover the very bottom layer of potatoes, and sprinkled a little parmesan on the top. It went into a medium oven for about 45 minutes, until the potatoes were tender. It was absolutely delicious. Much lighter than a gratin dauphinois, and with much more flavour. Brilliant use for leftovers!

We had it with some ham and tenderstem broccoli