Gratin de Pommes de Terre

Thinly sliced potato roasted with cream until soft and luscious

This rich and creamy potato dish makes the perfect side dish for a cold winter day meal, or in our case, the Monaco Grand Prix. But hey, cozy winter meals are my favourite kind of eating, so I’ll happily enjoy this dish in May.

Pictured below, we enjoyed this potato gratin dish with a strip steak served with anchoiade. Layered with thyme, nutmeg and butter, this simple dish is full of flavour. If you’re feeling especially decadent, you could also shave a few slices of black truffle between the layers for a treat.

This recipe was adapted from the cookbook Provence to Pondicherry.

Gratin de Pommes de Terre

Classic French potato gratin. Peppered with thyme and roasted in heavy cream.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course Race Leader, Side Dish

Cuisine French

Equipment

• Mandoline slicer
• Microplane/zester

Ingredients

  

• 2 large russet potatoes
• 1 garlic clove, peeled & halved
• ¾ cup 1% milk
• ¾ cup half & half cream
• 2½ tbsp butter, softened
• 3-4 springs thyme, leaves removed
• fresh nutmeg, grated
• salt & pepper

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Grease a large loaf pan with ½ a tablespoon of butter. Slice the garlic clove in half and lightly rub the loaf pan from top to bottom with the garlic to season the pan.
• In a small saucepan add the milk, cream, and garlic clove halves. Bring to a simmer and be careful not to let the milk boil over. Simmer for 1-2 minutes then remove from the heat.
• Using a mandoline set to ⅛ inch, slice the potatoes thinly and place in a bowl of cold water to wash off the starch.
• Lay the potato slices into the pan, slightly overlapping the edges. Pause between every two layers to season with salt, pepper, a few thyme leaves, and a light grating of nutmeg. At the half-way point add ½ of the milk mixture and 1 tbsp of butter dotted around the potatoes.
  
• Continue layering the potatoes, s&p, thyme, and nutmeg until all the potatoes are in the dish. Add the remaining cream and butter.
• Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and roast for another 30-45 minutes until the crust is a nice dark brown.
• Leave to cool and set for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Provence to Pondicherry by Tessa Kiros.

Keyword french food, monaco, potatoes