Vegetable Gratin

So.....here goes! I was reading about winter vegetables and learned of the term "gratin" which is from a French word that means "to scrape/grate." Basically, it's some vegetable casserole-type dish with thinly sliced veggies. So I tried one! But.....I think I made a mistake. I liked the garlic potatoes gratin recipe, but I was trying to make this other one.....that I think is supposed to be sweet, but I made some distinctly spiceful changes....so we'll see how it turns out.

First, I cut up one of everything. Just kidding. But, it was a lot.....1/2 a butternut squash, 2 russet potatoes, a celery root (called celeriac), a orange-skinned sweet potato, and 1 parsnip. I layered those into a 9x13 pan. Then, on the stove, I sauteed a clove of garlic and 1/4 of an onion in butter. Before they were done, I added 1/3 lb of italian pork sausage to brown. When those were done cooking, I added a half cup of milk, 2 cups of water and 2 chicken bouillon cubes. Then the spices: A dash of paprika, three shakes of nutmeg, a 1/2 tsp of thyme, a bunch of black pepper, and two shakes of garlic salt. (See what I mean about the sweet veggies and the salt/spice?) I brought that to a boil, then poured it over the veggies. I baked it for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, then 40 more at 350 degrees F.

So I pulled it out of the oven, sprinkled mozzarella on it and let it sit for a bit. Definitely not the creamy sauce I'd imagined, and I wonder if I can use the liquid as a base for some kind of soup. The dish itself is not...unpleasant. Pretty exotic tasting, actually. I like the spice/sweet play and the sausage definitely helps with that! I will probably try making this again sometime! :D

Update: After a night and more in the fridge, the flavors had a chance to meld together. It is a lot mellower, but still nomnom.