To some, a gratin is a gratin is a gratin. We beg to differ. There’s quite the indulgent art to slicing the potatoes just the right thickness so as to become perfectly tender, to finding the perfect proportion of heavy cream to cheese, and to ensuring the time in the oven is just right so the surface of the gratin turns just the perfect shade of irresistible golden brown. In our opinion, this indulgent version not only defines but embodies the term “old-fashioned potato gratin.” Taste and experience it for yourself.–Renee Schettler Rossi
What’s the difference between scalloped potatoes and potato gratin?
Both scalloped potatoes and potato gratin are made with obscene amounts of dairy goodness. Scalloped potatoes are typically made with cream and not a lot else. Potato grain is made with a cheese sauce…and then there’s more cheese usually blanketed atop. We love both.
Old-Fashioned Potato Gratin
Ingredients
- 4 russet potatoes
- 1 garlic clove, crushed and peeled
- 1 tablespoon (1/2 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated Comté cheese, (or substitute Gruyère or Asiago)
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Instructions
- Adjust the oven rack to the top third position and preheat the oven to 350° F (176° C).
- Peel the potatoes and slice them crosswise about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Place the potato slices in a bowl of cold water so they don’t discolor.
- Meanwhile, firmly rub the garlic clove all over the bottom and sides of a 10-inch gratin dish to coat it with the garlic juices. Allow to dry for a few minutes, then rub the bottom and sides of the dish with the butter.
- Drain the potatoes and pat them dry. Arrange a layer of potatoes in a slightly overlapping fashion, like a splayed deck of cards, in the bottom of the gratin dish. Season with a good dash of salt and pepper and a little of each of the two cheeses. Continue layering the potatoes and cheese in this fashion, seasoning each layer and finishing with the cheese (you should have at least 3 layers). Drizzle the cream along the sides of the dish, so as not to displace the cheese.
- Place the potato gratin, uncovered, in the oven and bake for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, or until the cream has been absorbed and the top is crisp and golden.
- Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
In Advance Advice
The peeled potatoes can sit, submerged in cold water, on the counter for a few hours. You can also assemble the gratin, cover it, and refrigerate it for anywhere from a few hours to overnight before baking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This old-fashioned potato gratin is about as basic as it gets. It also looks as good as it tastes. It’s easy to prepare, sets up perfectly, and has just the right amount of cheesy goodness. It’s difficult to resist tasting before it leaves the kitchen, but your presentation of this attractive dish will suffer for it if you do.
If you want to avoid the possibility of spillage, you can add the cream just before adding the salt, pepper, and cheese to the top of your final layer. The four russets I used weighed about 1 1/2 to 2 pounds total. Using them, this recipe fit my 10-inch gratin dish perfectly.
What’s not to love about this old-fashioned potato gratin recipe? It’s easy, delicious, and just plain good-looking! There’s nothing complicated about this, which makes it perfect for a dinner party or holiday table.
Into the oven and, an hour or so later, out comes perfection—a crisp, delectable cheese topping over creamy potato slices. What I really love about this is the potato slices don’t turn into mushy potatoes, but rather hold their shape and delicate taste.
I would love to take this dish with me to a dinner party…any chance I could make it ahead ?
I’ve had luck in the past with assembling a gratin and then refrigerating it for several hours prior to baking. Although since you’ll be in someone else’s kitchen, this gets a little tricky, as you’d need to arrive quite early and, it goes without saying, you’d of course need to inquire if there’s space in the oven and if it will be turned to 350 degrees.
I think you could instead parbake it—which is to say, cook it until almost but not completely done, until the potatoes are almost tender and the surface is not yet browned or crisp—and then finish heating it in your host’s oven. I’d bake it for about 45 minutes at home and then allot 30 or 45 minutes additional at your destination, which is more than the total cooking time indicated in the recipe but you’ll need to account for the fact that the gratin will have cooled slightly in transit. And, of course, also inquire with your host as to whether she’ll have space in the oven and if it will be at the right temperature (you could go 25 degrees in either direction).
Either way, to keep your gratin from tipping over in transit, I’d suggest placing it in a box that’s just a little larger than the dish and scrunching up newspaper to fit snugly in between dish and box. Then place the box on the floor of the back seat in your car and recycle the paper and cardboard when you get to your destination. You could use towels instead of newspaper, but the newspaper makes for easier cleanup in case of slight spills, plus you don’t have to worry about remembering to take your towels home.
This will be my “Welcome to Heaven” dish. If I may be so presumptuous.
What makes this a true Arsenal™ recipe is that it’s a fantastic blueprint for your imagination. I added shallots so thinly sliced your could read the King James Bible through them, a bit of nutmeg, and a lot more cheese. I also crushed the garlic clove and dropped in cream and simmered it. The result was fantastic. I served with my mustard-garlic goose, pan-braised carrots with orange and rosemary, and lemon curd cake.
BTW, I used a 2-quart casserole, and it was the perfect size.