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5 from 1 vote

Potatoes au Gratin

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs. russet or Yukon gold potatoes
  • 1 quart heavy cream
  • 8 oz. shredded cheese (Swiss, cheddar, etc.)--shredded by hand is best
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup topping of your choice, optional, see Note

Instructions

  • Peel potatoes and slice ¼ inch thick. Put in a saucepan and cover with heavy cream. You may not need the whole quart, but it will be close.
  • Bring the potatoes to a boil, turn the heat to medium low and simmer until a fork passes through a potato slice with little resistance.
  • Butter or spray a 9x11 casserole dish. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  • Ladle half the potatoes and cream into the casserole dish, season very liberally with salt and pepper, and sprinkle over ⅔ of the cheese. Ladle on the rest of the potatoes and cream, season well, and top with the rest of the cheese. Sprinkle on a topping if using. Bake for 30 minutes, and serve!

Notes

We often use fresh breadcrumbs tossed with melted butter for this recipe, but we've also used potato chip crumbs, Ritz cracker crumbs, French fried onions, etc.  Even panko would work.  As a rule, breadcrumbs, panko and cracker crumbs really need to be tossed with a little melted butter, potato chip crumbs and French fried onions do not.  They have enough fat already.  The fat keeps the topping from drying out.