Potato Gratin

Potato gratin is a wonderful dish that is easy to make. It is a good accompaniment for roast lamb or roast chicken, but is as delicious served on its own with a green salad.
Ingredients
- 5 medium sized waxy potatoes, peeled or unpeeled
- 4 cloves of garlic, chopped (smoked garlic is good for this dish if you can get it)
- ½ pint reduced fat crème fraîche, single cream, or a mixture of semi-skimmed milk and crème fraîche
- 3 oz good quality Gruyère, Challerhocker, or Emmentaler cheese, freshly grated.
- 1 lemon
- Salt (such as sea salt) and pepper
- Fried pancetta, bacon cubes, or other cooked pork (optional)
Steps
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Slice potatoes very thinly (about ⅛" thick), using a mandoline for evenness if possible. Place in fresh water.
- Swish potatoes in the water to remove excess starch.
- Pour away the water. Pat potatoes dry with a paper or kitchen towel, so remaining water does not curdle the cream.
- Return potatoes to a bowl. Add cream, chopped garlic, a generous pinch of salt and some pepper.
- Add a few fresh herbs (thyme is good) if desired.
- Peel the lemon zest. Add to the mixture.
- Mix well to coat all potatoes with cream.
- Pile potatoes in a buttered, oven-proof dish, no more than about 4 layers thick.
- Grate a generous amount of cheese. Spread over the mixture.
- Bake about 40 minutes, until the cheese and potatoes on top are brown and the cream is bubbling and running down the sides.
- Grate fresh nutmeg generously over the cheese before serving.
Notes from the original
- Some people tend to layer the potatoes in the heat proof bowl first and then pour the cream over. Some find this unreliable as the cream does not diffuse through all the layers, and the potatoes in a higgledy-piggledy pile in the bowl may be more attractive to some.
- Swiss Appenzeller cheese is also a good choice.
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Potato Gratin” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-07-13, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Potato gratin on stove.jpg by Dreamyshade, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.






