Potato bake is by far one of our favorite side dishes. While it’s not necessarily the healthiest of foods, it’s just so tasty. But everything can be enjoyed in moderation, right? How can so few ingredients make something so tasty and morish?

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Potato Bake (Potatoes au Gratin)

Course Side Dish

Keyword potato bake, potatoes au Gratin

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 750g Desiree or Waxy Potatoes (thinly sliced)
• 250 ml Cream
• 90 g Gruyere Cheese (grated)
• 2 cloves Garlic (Crushed)
• ½ tsp Ground Nutmeg
• Salt & Pepper (to taste)
• ½ Brown Onion (sliced)
• 2 rashers Short Cut Bacon (diced)

Instructions

• Preheat a conventional oven to 220°C, or 200°C for a fan-forced oven.
• Lightly fry the crushed garlic, onions (& optional bacon) in olive oil.
• Peel the potatoes and cut them into thin slices, and layer them into a casserole or gratin dish.
• Next, measure the cream, and add the grated cheese, garlic, onion (+ optional bacon), nutmeg and seasoning. Pour the mixture over the layered potatoes.
• Put a lid or foil onto the dish and place into the oven. This will help the potatoes to cook through quicker. Leave the cover on for 20 minutes
• Take the cover off the casserole dish and bake for and additional 20-25 minutes. place a skewer stick through the middle to ensure the potatoes are cooked through. If not, leave on for additional time, until the potatoes are cooked through.
• To color and add crisp to the top, finish off in a hot grill for a few minutes (if needed).

Swaps and Tips

This tasty potato bake can be enjoyed with French mountain cheeses and/ or garlic and nutmeg.

For even potato slices, a mandoline is best to use. Aim for thin slices of potato as they will cook through more easily.

If you love a bit of extra flavor, add bacon to your Pommes Dauphinoises. This is completely optional, but it does add a smoky flavor to the dish.

If you want a lighter bake, opt for milk instead of cream. You could even choose light milk and opt for a light cheese if you’re trying to reduce the fat content. If you need to thicken it up, stir in 1 tbsp cornflour when you’re preparing the liquid mixture.

Furthermore, some people dice the onion, but we prefer it sliced. If you want to add a bit of color, you could opt for scallions instead of onion.

Final Notes

It can be challenging to get the right balance of cream/ milk and potatoes. This is honestly a little bit of trial and error. We often add an extra splash of milk if there is not good coverage over the potatoes.

Sprinkling extra cheese over the top of the potatoes in the last 15 minutes will make this even tastier, and create a golden brown, crusty cheese layer on top.

If you want to enjoy some other great recipes, take a look at the Recipes, Food & Wine page.

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