Sweet potato gratin

This sweet potato gratin is my new favorite cold-weather lunch recipe. I actually use a mix of sweet and regular potato for two reasons: first, I don’t like sweetness overkill in my savory dishes. Second, regular spuds are starchier and when making a gratin, this matters. Because when starch releases itself in the cream or milk, it makes the whole thing incredibly creamy. In fact, when making gratin dauphinois, the famous traditional French side dish that only uses regular potatoes, there is no need for cream at all because the milk and starch combo suffice to make it super creamy.

Now, when it comes to serving this little piece of heaven, I have it as a main with a green salad on the side because it is hearty enough as is. But, if you or someone in the fam or friend group has a mental block with not having meat with their potatoes, then throw in a few thick slabs of chorizo or bacon bits inside (in France, they have something called “lardons”, which are basically thick slices of bacon that are chopped up into matchsticks – this is what they use in quiche lorraine for example. That is what I would suggest for this). Or serve it with steak. Your pick. Like I said, I opt for the vegetarian version.

Another thing I would add is that smoked paprika makes this dish. If you don’t have any, get some (I get this brand, you can’t go wrong with it). Once you taste smoked paprika, you will want to add it to a lot of your recipes because it adds a wonderful smokey taste that complements a lot of ingredients.

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 big sweet potato (I had a huge one from the farmer’s market) – or 2 medium ones
• 3 medium potatoes (any old one will do, just avoid new potatoes)
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tsp thyme
• 500 ml of 30% cream or milk (or a mix of both, that is what I do)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• Freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 170C
2. Grease a deep ovenproof baking dish (11 x 7 inch is what I use, but you could use a deep 9-inch pie plate) with 2 tbsp olive oil
3. Cut all your potatoes into thin slices (around 2-3 mm, I use a mandolin for this. If your slices are too thick, they won’t cook properly.
4. Place the potato slices in a large bowl, toss in a 1 tsp of salt, garlic, thyme, and 3 tbsp olive oil and mix well so as to coat all the slices with the oil
5. Put the potatoes in the baking dish and set aside
6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk/cream, 1 tsp salt, smoked paprika, and fresh ground pepper to taste
7. Pour the milk/cream mixture on top of the potatoes. It should almost entirely cover the potatoes. Place in the oven and bake for 45-60 minutes. At the 30 minute mark, check the oven and baste the top of the potatoes with a bit of the cream that is in the dish. At the 45 minute mark, if the top is getting too golden, then cover with a sheet of aluminum before you place the dish back in the oven.
8. When the sweet potato gratin is done, turn off the oven, cover the dish with a sheet of aluminum and leave it in the turned-off oven until it cools down slightly (around 20 minutes) and is ready to serve.