Cheesey Potatoes

Cheesey Potatoes

If the idea of eating these cheesey potatoes with a salad as a main course sounds a bit weird to you, think of it as mac & cheese with potatoes instead of the maccaroni. It’s equally delicious and indulgent with the added bonus of being gluten-free. Plus as my Irishman is always telling me, potatoes are a great source of Vitamin C so it’s actually healthier than mac & cheese on two fronts!

enough for 2 as a main or 4 as a side
4 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
450g (1lb) Dutch cream potatoes or other waxy potatoes, scrubbed
1/2 cup white wine
2 large handfuls grated melting cheese
1 bag salad leaves

1. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F). Melt butter in a medium saucepan and add onion. Cook, covered on a medium heat until the onion is soft. About 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, grate the potatoes using your food processor or box grater. Place on a tea towel or paper towel and pat dry as possible.

3. When the onion is soft, add the wine and cook uncovered for about 5 minutes or until reduced a little.

4. Remove onion from the heat. Stir in the dried potatoes and half the cheese. Season generously with salt and pepper and divide mixture between 2 x 2 cup oven proof dishes or 4 x 1 cup dishes or ramekins. Top with extra cheese.

5. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling.

6. Serve hot with salad on the side.

Variations

different cheese – use any cheese which will melt well such as gruyere, emmental, swiss, mozzarella, cheddar or a combination. I like to include a little parmesan for it’s lovely flavour but parmesan alone won’t melt nicely.

carnivore – brown some bacon and add after the wine is reduced. Or serve as a side to a grilled steak or roast chicken.

alcohol-free – replace wine with 1/4 cup cream. No need to simmer the cream proceed straight to step 4. Or use 1/2 cup chicken or veg stock and simmer as you would with the wine.

lower GI / different veg– replace potatoes with sweet potato or use a combo of both. Or add in other root veg such as jerusalem artichoke, parsnip, swede (rutabaga) and / or turnip. I have made an all turnip version and it was pretty intensely turnipy so I’d probable be inclined to use a combo next time.

dressed salad – with something this rich I often serve my salad leaves ‘nude’ so I save time and because you’re not really going to notice the salad dressing. But if you would prefer your salad dressed make a quick dressing by combining 1 tablespoon wine vinegar (my favourite is sherry vinegar or rice vinegar) with 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil. Season well and toss the salad in the dressing just before serving.

vegan / dairy-free – replace butter with extra virgin olive oil. And instead of the cheese, just drizzle over (lots) more olive oil before baking.

short on time – boiled potatoes instead.

carb lovers / more substantial – extra potatoes.

Waste Avoidance Strategy

butter – keeps in the fridge for months.

onion – will keep in the pantry for months. Best if in a dark corner in a brown paper bag.

potatoes – keep in the pantry.

white wine – pantry. Although it tends not to last very long around here 🙂

cheese – most hard and melting cheeses will keep for weeks wrapped in waxed paper or baking paper and stored in an airtight container (or sealed ziplock bag) in the fridge. If you need to store for longer cheese can be frozen.

salad leaves – are highly perishable. My first path would be to use them for another meal (salad for breakfast!) but if that isn’t possible you can pop them in the freezer. They will wilt down but can then be used anywhere you’d use wilted greens. At least this way they wont go slimey.