Yummy potato dish – serve this for a wholesome brunch with side salad and a good crusty sourdough bread. If you cannot get pancetta in your store, you can substitute pancetta with bacon or chorizo both equally as delicious. A smaller portion of this can be served as an accompaniment to roast chicken or other meats.
Serves: 2
Preparation and Cooking Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
3 large baking potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced (if you have a mandolin or a processor with a slicing blade it makes life easier). If not, you can slice by hand but try to get the slices as thin as possible.
6 oz of pancetta, cubed.
2 or 3 large onions, peeled and finely sliced (exactly the same process as the potatoes)
3 cloves of garlic, skin removed and crushed or finely diced
2 handfuls fresh chopped parsley
16 oz of fresh double cream
6 oz gruyere cheese or very strong cheddar
Directions
Pour the cream into a saucepan and add in your diced garlic. Put on a very low temperature to heat through gently. Try not to let it boil, otherwise the cream may separate. The flavour of the garlic will infuse into the cream and give a lovely subtle taste.
Start to layer up your ingredients – potatoes, pancetta, then onion and parsley. When the cream is warmed through, pour over each layer as you go along, then top each layer with a little of the cheese. Continue layering, and pour any final amount of cream over the whole dish, and scatter the remaining cheese. Place in the oven at 320 degrees F/160 degrees C on the middle or bottom shelf. Cook in the oven for about 45 mins (this does depend on the thickness of your potato slices), but up to an hour if necessary. If the top of the dish has started to color too much, cover with foil. The dish should be bubbling and golden brown. Pierce in the center with a sharp knife to determine whether the potatoes are cooked through.