A gratin is basically any dish that is baked in a shallow dish and that has a browned crust at the top of it, either with cheese or breadcrumb toppings. In French, gratin means ‘to scrape or grate’, which makes clear reference to the skin or crust that appears at the top of the dish. A potato-based gratin is the more common type of gratin, and the easier one to prepare as well. You can also make other types of gratin that consist of seafood, smoked fish, vegetables or pasta.
A gratin can be really filling – enough to make for one good meal. It contains dense ingredients such as milk, cheese and potato (lots of carb!) so do be prepared to fill up your stomach with just this dish alone!
Ingredients:
- Butter: 30g
- Plain flour: 2 tbsp
- Milk: 600ml
- White onion: 1, inserted with a handful of cloves
- Salt: 1 tsp
- Ground blackpepper: a pinch
- Cheddar cheese (grated): 200g
- Potato: 800g, sliced thinly
- Mozzarella cheese (grated): 100g
Method:
- Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius.
- Heat butter in saucepan. Stir in plain flour till thickened.
- Add in milk and onion to combine.
- Add in salt and blackpepper.
- Remove from heat. Strain and reserve milk.
- Pour 1/3 of milk into base of a shallow baking dish.
- Place cheddar cheese on top of milk, followed by potato slices, overlapping them.
- Repeat with milk, cheese, then potato slices till all are used up. Bake 40min.
- Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 10 – 15min till golden brown.
Trick:
-
Blanch the potato slices quickly in boiling water first, before baking them. This would allow for a more even cooking of the potatoes and prevent any at the top from remaining undercooked during the baking.
Serving:
4 – 6 persons
