Try My Simple Yet Elegant Potato Gratin – It’s DELISH

It’s a brand new year…and SIMPLE is good. 

First of all, I hope your holidays were filled with family, food and FUN! When folks hear the word Gratin they immediately think French. And DIFFICULT! But I’m here to tell you my version of this potato side dish is as easy as it could be!

I even hesitate to call this simple side dish a recipe. But I’ll be happy to share the list of the ingredients with you.

How Many Spuds?

I’m sure your first question with be “How many potatoes do I need?”

Well…here is how I determine that answer.

Pull out the baking dish you want to use, then slice the peeled potatoes into that dish until it’s almost full. And THAT My Friends is how many potatoes you need to use! 

Now…for the method.

As I said, peel the potatoes. I like to slice mine into about 1/4 inch slices, but feel free to make them thinner if you prefer. You can also slice them with a mandoline if you want them paper thin, but I prefer the slices to hold their shape instead of squishing together into almost a solid block of spuds after they’re cooked. You decide what floats your boat!

After you’ve decided how many spuds you need, simply pour those sliced potatoes out of the baking dish and into a big mixing bowl. Add some salt and pepper, finely diced onion, some minced fresh parsley, several minced garlic cloves (if desired) and some grated Parmesan cheese if you want. Leave out what you hate and add what you love. That’s MEEMAW’S style of cooking!

When you have mixed the whole mess together, simply pour the mixture back into the baking dish you have generously sprayed with cooking spray.

Next…the totally difficult part. 

The Simple Secret Ingredient…

Pour in enough heavy cream to cover the potato mixture. Yup. Heavy Whipping Cream. Don’t do that “judgy eye” eye roll at me. You wanted to know how I make these yummy spuds…and this is how.  🙂 You can also sprinkle more Parmesan cheese on top if you wish.

Then simply cover the dish with foil and bake it at 375 or 400 degrees until a knife stuck in the middle of the dish slides easily into the potatoes.

I like to uncover the dish for the last few minutes of baking to brown the top. Or you can run the dish under the broiler for a minute if that’s easier for you. (Just don’t turn your back or the spuds will burn!) And sprinkle your finished dish with some chopped fresh parsley to brighten it up.

But no matter how you finish this dish…your guests will FINISH this simple dish. Every. Last. Spoonful.