SCALLOPED POTATOES WITH LEEKS AND HAM


Scalloped Potatoes and Ham - such comfort food, a dish I had not made in years until I found a neutral tasting Soy Milk.  This would have been delicious with SCD cream too, but I did not have any made, so a white Bechamel Sauce it was.  With three different cheeses, it really added a depth of flavor to this dish.
3 large Yukon gold potatoes
2 leeks, trimmed, cut in half, and sliced then rinsed well
2 shallots minced
4 garlic cloves minced
3 Tblsp. butter
2 tsp. minced fresh sage
1 1/2 cups milk (we use a neutral plain soy milk)
3 Tblsp. corn starch
enough extra milk to make a thick slurry
1 1/2 cups grated Aged Cheddar Cheese
big handful of Parmesan Cheese
1/2 cup grated Swiss Gruyere Cheese
2  quarter inch slices of ham, cubed
salt and pepper
Begin by making the white sauce - I made mine really thick.  Melt the butter in a pan, on low heat, adding in the shallots, garlic, sage, salt and pepper.  Saute until translucent.  Then pour in the milk, bring to a simmer, and slowly add in the thickened cornstarch slurry, stirring well, until thickened.  Add in the aged Cheddar Cheese, and Parmesan cheese, stirring until melted and remove from heat.  Adjust for seasonings.

Peel, half, and quarter the potatoes, then slice as thin as possible.  Drain the rinsed Leeks, and chop up the ham.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and generously grease a casserole dish with butter.
To the casserole dish, add 1 layer of potatoes, salt and pepper, a layer of leeks, and then a layer of ham.  Repeat, finishing with a last layer of potatoes.
I did not have a mandolin, but as long as the potatoes are cut to 1/8th of an inch thickness, they won't take too long to cook.
Then sprinkle on the 1/2 cup of grated Swiss Gruyere Cheese, and pour and spread on the white sauce evenly.
Bake covered for 1 hour, or until the potatoes have cooked through, then remove lid and bake until the top is nice and golden.  You could turn up the oven to broil, but just watch carefully that it does not burn.

Ina Gawne
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7 comments on “SCALLOPED POTATOES WITH LEEKS AND HAM”

  1. What an amazeing & well flavoured potato dish! This is one dish, one dinner in 1 plate!
    Stunning & so easy to make too! I love my food like that!

      1. Hi Janet - I tried to leave a comment on your blog, but google would not accept 🙂 Anyways, I wanted to share some info with you on your newest post, so email me and I would be happy to share, Ina

  2. Some later... I liked your recipe for a family Christmas get-together tomorrow. December 10,'11. Modified it slightly because of absence of ingredients. Still turned out to be delicious. Thanks. I hope your Spring/Summer will be better than our Winter. (December in Wisconsin is cold, icy, snowy, and windy so as to prepare us for January and February. March is the month it is supposed to warm up. We'll see!)

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March 5, 2011
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