I had a bag of potatoes and also some cheeses that I needed to use so this is what I came up with for today. OMG YUM! did this come out delicious…..Somehow everything just turned into a delicious tomato-ee, cheesy, soupy sauce with lots of potatoes. Gratinated means buttered crumbs. There is a small amount of buttered fresh bread crumbs on the top. Dauphinoise potatoes are a fancy French term for potatoes baked in milk and or cream and cheese. Serving size is always difficult to judge because I don’t know if you want a tiny dish or a big bowl. I used 6 medium sized potatoes so I am guessing a half potato a person so I will guesstimate 12 portions.

Ingredients for around 12 servings

6 medium sized russet potatoes – peeled and sliced thin one a mandolin

1 onion – peeled cut in half and sliced thin on a mandolin

4 garlic cloves – ground to paste

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 Tablespoons fresh basil (chopped)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 dried Calabrian pepper – crushed (or substitute a small pinch of crushed red pepper)

8 oz stracchino cheese thin slices (as best you can..this cheese is sort of soft)

5 oz taleggio cheese (sliced thin)

2 eggs – lightly beaten

10 oz. can cut tomatoes (whole can with liquid…..or you can use a large farm fresh ripe heirloom tomato that taste good)

6 oz tomato paste

8 oz heavy cream

1 Tablespoon of vegetable stock paste (soup paste)

2 oz parmesan cheese – shaved (I used a vegetable peeler)

non stick spray

small roll (almost 2 oz) – to grate for crumbs (topping)

1+1/2 Tablespoon sweet butter – grated (topping)

2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese – grated (topping)

1 Tablespoon fresh basil – chopped (for finishing)

Directions

Set oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray a large baking dish or half buffet pan with non stick spray.

In a large bowl mix together the cream, tomato paste, soup paste, and eggs. Mix Well.

Add the potatoes, onion, garlic, black pepper, salt, Calabrian pepper, stracchino cheese, taleggio cheese, 2 Tablespoons basil, and the contents of the can of tomatoes. Mix well. Put this mixture in you non stick sprayed dish or pan.

Top this with 2 oz parmesan.

Cover tight with foil.

This goes in the middle rack of your preheated 375 degree F oven for 90 minutes.

During this time grate around 2 oz of a good tasting roll ( I used a mini sourdough roll). The roll will be easier to grate if it is stale or partly frozen. Grate the butter into the crumbs and grate the cheese into this mixture and mix it up.

I spread this out on a baking sheet and threw it in the oven when the potatoes were at 80 minutes or ten minutes before the potatoes were done.The crumbs are super crunchy this way. Add the crumbs to the top of the potatoes when they are done.

Top with a little fresh basil.

Enjoy it’s FORKING Delicious!