Recipe Sunday: Potato-Leek Gratin

With the (non-stop) snow and cold I decided to treat myself to scalloped potatoes last week. But, then I saw that our grocery store had leeks on sale, only 99 cents each. So, I decided to really treat myself, and make a potato-leek gratin. The main difference between the two, is that a gratin involves a cooked cheese sauce, whereas scalloped potatoes just involve putting layers of potato and onions in a casserole and pouring milk over the top.

Before I got to the sauce, I had a lot of prep to do – and a new toy to cut with. For Christmas my husband bought me a mandolin.  An actual mandolin.

I had wanted one for years, because my knife skills are lackadaisical at best. However: a) I’m ridiculously accident prone; and b) I like to drink while I cook dinner.
You can see how that could be problematic.

But, my husband assured me when I opened the mandolin on Christmas, that it has an excellent safeguard. So, last week I happily went into the kitchen, poured myself a glass of wine, and started prepping potatoes on my new gadget.

The gratin was perfect – cheesy and slightly fruity from the leeks and wine. And the trial run with the mandolin was a success. It was fantastic to not run across randomly undercooked potatoes for once, and (despite my wine consumption) I didn’t hurt myself at all.

Potato-Leek Gratin:

  • 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes (sliced as thinly and evenly as you can)
  • 2 sliced leeks (white and pale green parts only)
  • 2 cups of shredded swiss cheese
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • ½ cup of white wine
  • 3 tablespoons of flour
  • 2 cups of warm milk (Heat in the microwave for 2 minutes)
  • ½ cup of shredded Parmesan
  • Black pepper to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Saute the leeks in the olive oil and white wine for 5 minutes. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute, then add the milk. When the lumps of flour have smoothed out add the swiss cheese in small batches stirring constantly until the cheese is integrated into the sauce.

Layer the potatoes in a buttered casserole dish and alternate with the cream/leek mixture. When you reach the top layer of sauce on potatoes sprinkle the Parmesan on top. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake until the potatoes are soft and the top is brown.

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