This is, hands down, one of the yummiest things I’ve eaten for a while… comfort food galore! That being said, it’s not one of the most nutritious dishes I’ve ever made… but ehhh, it’s all about balance, right?! It’s too good to care about all that anyway! So on to the food… this would be a perfect dish for Thanksgiving or any other holiday or seasonal gathering. My boyfriend’s family had a small little get together on Sunday, and when his mom mentioned wanting potatoes, I immediately thought of this. My aunt usually makes this on Easter- it’s one of the dishes I look forward to most during the holiday. Not knowing her exact recipe, I went to town crafting up what I thought would be a similar tasty potato dish to bring. Mm mm good!! In fact, I thought I was going to be feeding about 10, so made this heaping portion and then only five showed, but it was still all gobbled up anyway. Yes, it’s that scrumptious and yummy.
The pics are rather horrendous- they don’t do it justice… I had a phone in my pocket and about one minute before we took of to the gathering, so no enticing photos here. You’ll just have to use your imagination… hopefully the taste will make up for it 🙂
The key, as when making any tasty meal, is to use good quality ingredients. That doesn’t mean spending a fortune, it just means choose wisely. In this case, it means using fresh herbs, not dried, and good quality cheeses. No need to go buying 20 dollar blocks of cheese or anything, but use fresh Parmesan if you can rather than the pre-grated stuff, use a decent Gruyere, and a cheddar you’d enjoy taking a bite of on its own. The quality of the ingredients that you put in will create the quality of the overall dish. Most important is to use fresh herbs… I can’t stress that part enough. For some dishes, it doesn’t make a huge difference, but for this one, I really think it does. So do your best to get your hands on the freshness 🙂 If you can’t, of course it’s not the end of the world, but definitely a bonus if you can!
This is good stored in the fridge for days… if there are any leftovers to store that is!
{about 45 minutes to prep, 1 hour to bake}
Serves approx. 10
INGREDIENTS
3 lbs potatoes- 1/2 sweet potatoes, 1/2 russets
1 tbsp garlic, minced
3 tbsp shallots, minced (if you can’t find shallots, use red onion)
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, chopped
3/4 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
3/4 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1/2 cup each- Gruyere, sharp cheddar, and Parmesan cheese
1 cup chicken broth, low-sodium (use veggie broth for vegetarian option)
1 cup half and half
1/4 cup butter or ghee
1/4 tsp ground chipotle powder
1 tsp salt (1/2 for sauce, 1/2 for sprinkling over potatoes)
1/2 tsp black pepper
*note: this version of scalloped potatoes is not super creamy/liquidy…
if you’d like it real saucy, add extra half and half and butter to saucen it up 🙂
Lately, chipotle’s been my go-to secret ingredient.
It’s spicy, but in such a subtle and smoky way. Love it.
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Grease a 11 X 13 baking dish
To begin, peel potatoes
Then thinly (and evenly) slice potatoes- about 1/8 inch thick
Then place sliced potatoes in a bowl of cold water… this removes excess starch
Let them sit while you prepare everything else…
Meanwhile…
Finely mince garlic cloves
Finely mince shallots
Set garlic and shallot aside for now…
Finely chop each herb
Toss together in a small bowl and mix
Now grate cheeses…
Mix all three cheeses together {in a bowl or right on the cutting board}
Now begin the sauce…
Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over low heat
Toss in shallots, garlic, half and half, and chicken broth
Then add chipotle powder and half of the salt
Stir and then let simmer for about 10 minutes, until lightly bubbly
Meanwhile, begin assembling potatoes
Strain potatoes…
Lay out over a towel and pat dry
To assemble, I make little stacks of potatoes in my hands first, alternating colors
(Then they’re easy to put into rows in the baking dish)
Fill the baking dish with rows of potatoes… you want the dish packed full, but the
potatoes should be loosely laying on each other, not super squished!
{Instead of straight upright, angled slightly on top of each other works well}
Like this…
Mix the other 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper in a small bowl- premixing is important!
Evenly sprinkle over the tops of potato slices
Now pour cream sauce over potatoes, evenly distributing the
garlic and shallot pieces over the potatoes
The bottoms of the potatoes will be sitting in the sauce, but they won’t be
fully immersed- no worries- they don’t need to be!
Now sprinkle the mixed cheeses over the top
Sprinkle mixed herbs over the cheese
You want everything evenly distributed over the whole thing
Now bake, covered with foil, for about 30 minutes
Remove foil and then cooked uncovered for about 30-35 more
minutes, until tops are lightly golden brown
Let cool for about 10 minutes- this will give sauce time to settle…
Serve up and enjoy!
