by: Kate McMillan
Cook Time
55 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Yield
6–8 servings
Total Time
55 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Yield
6–8 servings
summary
There is something so lovely about the old-school traditional recipes like gratins that are so wonderful at the holidays. This luxurious and decadent potato-leek gratin recipe adds beautiful lightly caramelized leeks, which lend a subtle sweetness to this rich dish. It’s truly the perfect dish—then again, it’s hard to go wrong when you combine potatoes, cheese and butter!
ingredients
- 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the dish
- 2 leeks, halved and sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped, plus more for garnish
- 1 cup (about ¼ pound) shredded Gruyere cheese
directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Using a mandolin, the slicer on a food processor or a very sharp knife, cut the potatoes into ⅛-inch slices. In a large mixing bowl, toss with ¾ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper.
- Butter the Oven-to-Table Square Baking Dish (or another 10-inch square baker) and layer the potatoes in the bottom.
- Set a skillet over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the leeks, season with salt and pepper and saute, stirring occasionally, until they are light golden brown, 5–7 minutes. Scatter the leeks over the potatoes and return the skillet to medium-high heat.
- Add the half-and-half and the thyme to the skillet and gently heat the cream, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour this over the potatoes. Top with the shredded gruyere, cover the dish with aluminum foil and transfer to the oven.
- Bake until potatoes are fork-tender and the cheese is golden brown, about 40 minutes, removing the aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.
- Let the potatoes sit for 10 minutes, garnish with extra thyme leaves and serve.
notes
Make sure you slice the potatoes all the same thickness to ensure even cooking time.
You want to start with aluminum foil on this dish to ensure that the potatoes are fully cooked, but then remove the foil to get that beautiful golden brown color on the top.
You really can use any potatoes you want in this potato-leek gratin recipe. Peeling potatoes is completely unnecessary as they are sliced so thin.
