It was the first Sunday in February 2023 and the sky was blue. A good moment for a dig on the allotment which had been much neglected. The bed of Charlotte potatoes had never been cleared. Most are perfect. The chard was good and had recovered well from the cold snap we had in December. This was a delicious meal in which every vegetable and herb had been taken from the allotment that day. Sage had overwintered well and I could find little shoots of marjoram to pick. I really liked the layer of chard stalks at the bottom of the dish.

Oven at 190°C

250g potatoes
150-200g chard
200ml double cream
75g Parmesan cheese
75g butter
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp chopped sage
1 tbsp chopped marjoram
Salt and freshly grated black pepper
A sprinkling of grated nutmeg

Scrub but do not peel the potatoes and, using a madeleine, slice thinly (about 2mm thick). Strip the leaves off the chard and chop finely. Cut the chard stalks into 2cm lengths.

Have a deep ovenproof dish. Place the chard stalks on the bottom. Cover with a layer of potato slices and then a layer of chard leaves, then a layer of potatoes. If space, continue adding alternate layers but be sure to end with a layer of potatoes on top.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, garlic, herbs, half the Parmesan and season generously. Carefully pour this mixture over the vegetables, dot with butter, sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan and some ground nutmeg. Cover with tinfoil.

Bake for an hour, then remove the tinfoil and continue baking for about 20 minutes until the gratin is browned on the top and the vegetables are soft.

Serve hot.