potatoes elevated to a new level with added vegetables, savory gouda cheese, and smoked ham (if using) for a delicious 'one pot' dish that can be made ahead
- 3 cups 2% low-fat milk
- 2 lbs potatoes, thinly sliced yukon, red, sweet
- 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced and diced smoked ham
- 4 oz green beans or haricot verts
- 1 cup shredded mild gouda cheese sub gruyere, cheddar, fontina or any good melting cheese
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- cooking spray
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Preheat oven to 400 deg F
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Prepare casserole dish by spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
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Add potatoes, milk, garlic and bay leaves to a large sauce pan, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for ~ 10 min stirring occasionally.
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Remove from heat, let cool fro ~ 10 min. Drain potatoes in colander BUT reserve 1 cup of milk. Discard bay leaves.
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Combine the reserved milk with the nutmeg and set aside.
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Begin layering potatoes, ham, green beans, and cheese. Top layer is potatoes, then salt, pepper, and cheese. Pour reserved milk mixture over potatoes.
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Cover with foil and bake for ~ 40-45 min.
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Remove foil and continue cooking for ~ 15 min until golden brown and the cheese is soft and melty.
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Let cool on rack. Serve warm.
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If freezing divide into desired portion sizes and store in airtight containers.
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Thaw and reheat in oven or microwave.
- to get three layers of potatoes I usually use 4-5 lbs of potatoes
- sweet potatoes make a nice addition to the original recipe which called for using just red potatoes. I used a combo of Yukon and sweet.
- I also double the green beans because I want more vegetables in this dish
- Substitute any other veg here, maybe broccoli, spinach, leeks, cabbage...........
- any type of good melting cheese will work or any combination of them
- I like mild gouda but fontina, smoked gouda, cheddar (any type), gruyere, etc are delicious options
- the meat is OPTIONAL and can be left out completely.
- subbing here works well too, maybe using cooked sausage or diced smoked turkey
- once you make this following the original recipe there is plenty of room to make bigger portions or to make substitutions to your taste and dietary preferences.