So simple, yet so tasty!
This is one of our favourite dishes in the Vigus household currently, easy to cook, 'slightly' rich & delicious, how could it not be a hit? Ok it's actually a very rich dish with so much cream but I don't think there are really any good substitutes so you'll just have to run a few extra miles to burn this one off.
How many does it serve? 4-6
What do I need?
- 900 grams of potatoes, peeled & thinly sliced
- 2 cups of double cream
- 1/2 cup of leeks, chopped
- 1 teaspoon of salt, or to taste (I like himalayan rock salt but any will do)
- 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
- 1 clove garlic, crushed or finely cut (optional, I know some people are not keen on these)
- 850 gram gammon steak
- veggies of your choice, today I'm using babycorns & sweet peas in their pods.
How do I make it?
Start warming up the oven, 200C (with a fan) will do nicely, set your shelf to the middle/lower position too.
Next you want to warm up the cream in a saucepan, add the nutmeg, pepper & salt now.
This is probably the easiest part of the meal, grab the gammon and place in it's own saucepan filled up enough to cover the meat, bring to the boil and leave on a low heat for about an hour (thats the amount of time mine needed, you will want to check the cooking instructions that comes with yours to get this spot on).
Clean those leaks and chop roughly. Scrub the potatoes to get off all that dirt, you grew them yourself right? Peel the potatoes and slice into discs 1/8 inch thick, no thicker.
Grab a casserole dish & start to layer in your potatoes in an overlapping pattern, chuck in those leaks evenly throughout too. Repeat so you have a few layers. Next you're going to get the warm cream and pour it all over the potatoes so nothing is left uncovered. Put this in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until the cream starts to turn a nice golden colour. Allow the gratins 5-10 minutes to cool before serving if you can, they will still be hot but this makes the cream a little thicker and clings better to the potatoes.
The trick is to bring everything to a close at the same time, so about 10 minutes before the gammon & the gratins are done get the veggies cooking.
Don't worry if you can't eat this all in one go, this dish makes delicious leftovers, cold or warmed up again in the microwave. I can see this working well cold with a salad instead of vegetables.