Potatoes Au “Great-in”
Potatoes au gratin? More like potatoes au “great-in”! I’m hilarious. I know. So if you haven’t figured it out already, today’s recipe is a Caramelized Onion and Bacon Potatoes Au Gratin. It’s crazy to think that only a few weeks ago I was posting recipes for Thanksgiving and now we’re movin’ right on to Christmas! I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about how fast time is moving in my past 10 blog posts LOL. I feel like I’m always saying “I cant believe it’s already…” and I really need to stop. We get it. Time is flying by.
Anyway, I know you’re looking for your Christmas side dish recipes and this one is ready to be served on your table! As I just mentioned, today we have Caramelized Onion and Bacon Potatoes Au Gratin. With this recipe, you’re going to get creamy, salty, cheesy, and sweet. It’s all of the above. Thinly sliced potatoes layered with a a garlic and herb infused cream, caramelized onions, bacon, and cheese!
There are so many ways you can serve potatoes and this dish is a great way to impress your friends and family. Mashed potatoes and roasted potatoes are always great and classic dishes to serve, but this dish will make you the “chef ” of the group. I don’t know if it’s the French name or the thinly sliced potatoes, but this dish instantly makes you seem ten times fancier. And it’ll be even more impressive when they taste how good it is.
Though it may seem fancy, please don’t be intimidated! This recipe is actually pretty simple — just watch out for your fingers when slicing the potatoes on the mandolin! Try it out and let me know what you think. Thanks for joining me today and I’ll catch you in my next post!
Caramelized Onion and Bacon Potatoes Au Gratin
Ingredients
- 1/2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 5 Slices of Thick Cut Bacon (diced)
- 1 Large Yellow Onion (sliced)
- 2 1/2 cups Heavy Cream
- 5 Cloves of Garlic (smashed)
- 2 Sprigs of Thyme
- 2 Springs of Rosemary
- 2 Springs of Sage
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 3/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 Large Russet Potatoes
- 1 cup Grated Gruyere
- 1 cup Grated Gouda
- 1/2 cup Chopped Parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375˚F. Grease an 8×8 inch pan with the 1/2 tbsp of butter then place it onto a sheet tray lined with aluminum foil. Set it aside for later.
- Heat a sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the diced bacon to the pan and cook until the pieces turn crispy. Remove the bacon pieces from the pan and place them into a dish lined with paper towels to absorb any excess oil. Reserve the bacon grease left in the pan.
- In the same pan that you cooked the bacon in, add in the onion and cook over medium low heat. Stir the onions with the bacon grease and cook for about 30-35 minutes, stirring every few minutes. The onions should caramelize and develop a deep golden brown color. When the onions have caramelized, remove them from the heat.
- In a small pot, add the heavy cream garlic, thyme, rosemary, sage, salt, and pepper. Mix the ingredients to distribute the seasonings then heat over medium heat until the cream begins to simmer. Remove it from the heat.
- While the cream heats up, slice off about 1/2 an inch off of one end of both potatoes. Take one potato and slide the flat end across a mandolin, adjusting the thickness so that you get slices 1/16th inch thick. Slice the potato until you can no longer safely slide the potato across the blade. Repeat with the remaining potato.
- Ladle a spoonful of the cream into the bottom of the prepared pan. Then arrange 1/3 of the sliced potatoes into a layer at the bottom of the pan. Distribute half of the bacon and caramelized onions over the potatoes. Then sprinkle 1/3 of the gruyere, 1/3 of the gouda, and 1/3 of the parsley on top. Ladle 1/3 of the cream onto the potatoes.
- For the second layer, arrange 1/2 of the remaining sliced potatoes into a layer. Distribute the remaining bacon and caramelized onions over the potatoes. Then sprinkle 1/2 of the gruyere, 1/2 of the gouda, and 1/2 of the parsley on top. Ladle 1/2 of the cream onto the potatoes.
- For the final layer, arrange the remaining sliced potatoes into a layer. Pour the remaining cream on top. It should just cover the top layer of potatoes. Reserve the remaining cheese and parsley for later. Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray. Wrap the aluminum foil, sprayed side down, over the pan. Place the pan with the lined sheet tray underneath into the oven to bake for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, remove the foil covering and sprinkle the remaining gruyere and gouda on top. Place the potatoes back into the oven to bake uncovered for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are fully cooked. You should be able to easily insert a knife down into the potatoes. If you want the top to develop more of a golden brown color, change the oven setting to broil and broil the potatoes for 1-3 minutes.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and allow it to stand for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle the remaining parsley on top and enjoy!
