Rich and Creamy Potato Bake

Ingredients

1kg potatoes, such as Sebago, Dutch cream or Nicola, scrubbed and cut into 5 mm thick slices
500mL pouring cream
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 fresh bay leaves (or 4 dried)
Small handful of thyme sprigs
1 onion, thinly sliced
125g grated cheddar cheese
1/4 bunch of flat- leaf parsley, leaves picked and thinly sliced
Salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Place the potato in a large saucepan of cold salted water and gently bring to a simmer.

Cook for about 10 minutes or until the potato is almost, but not quite, cooked through. Gently drain in a colander.

While the potato is cooking, place the cream, garlic, bay leaves and thyme in another saucepan and set over medium–low heat.

Gently simmer away for 10 minutes, but keep an eye on it – if it starts to boil, you’ll end up with a creamy volcano erupting all over your stovetop.

Once the cream has reduced a little and the flavours have infused, strain it into a jug and pop it to one side. Discard the
garlic, bay leaves and thyme.

Layer one-third of the onion, potato and cheese in a large baking dish, then repeat the layering, finishing with a layer of cheese.

Pour the infused cream over the ingredients, then bake for about 20 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbly.

Whip it out of the oven and leave it to cool for 5 minutes.

Scatter over the parsley, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Credits: Homegrown: A Year of Growing, Cooking and Eating by Paul West, published by Plum RRO $44.99.

Photo Credits: Chris Middleton and David Rogers