Au gratin potatoes are, in my opinion, the ultimate special occasion/holiday recipe. You really can’t go wrong when it comes to baking thin slices of potatoes in a creamy, cheesy sauce. I’ve made many different iterations over the years, but there is one combo I always come back to: roasted garlic and manchego cheese. Manchego is a nutty but creamy cheese, and melts up so beautifully in this sauce and pairs perfectly with the roasted garlic.
This dish takes some time, first to roast the garlic, then to cook the au gratin, but the actual prep time is shorter. If you are making this for the holidays, you can also prep the roasted garlic and even cheese sauce ahead of time, storing in the refrigerator and then reheating the day you plan to assemble and bake the gratin.
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
- 1 bulb garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup ap flour
- 1¾ cups milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2⅓ cups shredded manchego cheese
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 lbs yukon gold potatoes, sliced thin (can be peeled or left unpeeled)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Cut about ¼ inch of the top part of the garlic bulb off to expose cloves. Place garlic bulb in the center of a piece of foil (large enough to wrap around the garlic). Drizzle with olive oil. Bring edges of foil up together to enclose garlic in a foil package. Place in a small baking dish and then bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until very soft. Meanwhile, you can be prepping your potatoes and other ingredients.
- Remove garlic from oven and open foil to allow to cool. Turn oven temperature down to 375 degrees F. Once cool enough to handle, squeeze the bottom of the bulb to get the soft cloves out. Mash with a fork to create a paste.
- Add roasted garlic paste to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add butter. Once butter is melted, sprinkle flour over the top, stirring to form a paste. Cook for 1 minute. Add milk and heavy cream, whisking together to form a smooth mixture. Simmer, stirring, until thickened slightly, about 2-3 minutes. Turn heat to low, and add manchego cheese and ½ cup of the parmesan cheese, stirring until melted. Season with salt and pepper.
- Butter a deep 9x13 dish. Arrange potato slices to form thick stacks, then place horizontally in prepared dish so that you can see cut slices. Slant then slightly so that they aren't packed too tightly and they fill the whole pan (see picture above). Season tops of potatoes with freshly ground pepper. Pour prepared sauce evenly over the potatoes. Top with remaining ½ cup of the parmesan cheese. Cover pan tightly with foil.
- Place in 375 degree F oven. Bake for 45 minutes, then remove foil. Allow mixture to bake another 30 minutes approximately, until potatoes are tender, sauce is bubbly, and top is browning in spots. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
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