Sarah, a former food editor, has now been writing and styling recipes for over 10 years. Born in NZ, to Irish-English immigrants, and married to a Polish-Scot, her food is as diverse as her family, with a particular passion for baking mash-ups.
See more of Sarah Cook’s recipes
Sarah Cook
Sarah, a former food editor, has now been writing and styling recipes for over 10 years. Born in NZ, to Irish-English immigrants, and married to a Polish-Scot, her food is as diverse as her family, with a particular passion for baking mash-ups.
See more of Sarah Cook’s recipes
Subscribe to Sainsbury’s magazine
Rate this recipe
Print
Ingredients
1.75kg large, waxy potatoes(we used Vivaldi)
12 rashers dry-cure smoked streaky bacon, snipped
50g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
40g plain flour
400ml semi- skimmed milk
250ml chicken or vegetable stock (made with ½ stock cube)
200ml double cream
½ tsp sea salt flakes
200g mature cheddar, grated
1 small onion (or a few shallots), very finely sliced, preferably using a mandoline
Share:
Step by step
Get ahead
Prep, cover and chill for up to 48 hours prior to baking. Allow an extra 15-20 minutes cooking time from chilled, or until piping hot throughout.
Peel and cut the potatoes into 4-5mm-thick slices. Bring two big saucepans of water to the boil, add half the potato slices to each, and as soon as the water starts boiling again, set your timer for 3 minutes. Quickly drain into a colander.
Meanwhile, put the bacon rashers and butter in a large frying pan together (one big enough to hold a litre of sauce eventually) and over a low-medium heat, fry gently until the bacon is just beginning to darken and crisp up. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the bacon into a bowl. If there are any brown bits in the pan, tip the butter through a (metal) sieve, wipe the pan clean, then return the strained butter.
Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, then slowly whisk in the milk and stock to a smooth sauce. Add the cream and salt and bring to a simmer. Bubble gently for 2 minutes while stirring. Check the seasoning to taste.
Use a little butter to grease a large baking dish (about 20 x 30cm). Layer up the potatoes, sauce, cheese, onion and bacon, reserving a third each of the sauce, cheese and bacon for the top layer.
Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Bake on a tray, uncovered, for 55 minutes or until tender, bubbling hot and golden brown. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Serve with
Mulled beef brisket Roast leg of lamb with garlic and rosemary Ultimate roast chicken
You might also like...
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
offerReceive three bottles of wine from the aficionados at Wine52 for just £9.95
offerReceive a craft beer case worth £27 from Beer52 for just £6.95!
offerGet a Free Welcome Kit worth £69 when you sign up for AG1
Layer up the potatoes, sauce, cheese, onion and bacon, reserving a third each of the sauce, cheese and bacon for the top layer. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Bake on a tray, uncovered, for 55 minutes or until tender, bubbling hot and golden brown. Leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Surprisingly, aluminum foil is his secret weapon. After beautifully shingling the potatoes (he's got a genius trick for doing this quickly, too) he covers the dish in foil before hitting the oven.
What is the difference between au gratin potatoes and scalloped potatoes? Au Gratin potatoes contain cheese, whereas Scalloped Potatoes do not. Scalloped potatoes typically contain cream but can also contain flavorful stock instead of dairy.
If raw, once the potato is cut you can store in the refrigerator, covered with water for 12-24 hours. Be sure to keep submerged in water to prevent slices from turning gray or brown.
If your potatoes aren't cooked properly, they will have a slightly crisp or al dente texture. You want to be sure the dish cooks evenly, so rotate the dish in your oven halfway thru cooking and be sure to test for doneness in more than one spot, in case your oven heats unevenly.
Potatoes or rice can remain rock-hard after prolonged cooking. Starch will not swell if it is acidic. If you have a lot of sour cream in your scalloped potatoes or add something acidic, your potatoes may not soften. You can cook the potatoes with heavy cream or milk and then, after they soften, stir in sour cream.
The best potatoes to use for a homemade scalloped potato recipes like this one are baking/frying potatoes, either russet or Idaho. They have dry, light, and fluffy interiors that hold their shape when cooked. The starch in the potatoes helps to thicken the sauce while the casserole bakes.
Bake: Place the dish with the scalloped potatoes in the preheated oven.Bake according to the instructions provided on the packaging, which is usually around 30–40 minutes. Always refer to the specific time and temperature recommendations provided with your product.
Why are they called funeral potatoes? Funeral potatoes get their unique name from being a crowd-pleasing casserole served as a side dish at after-funeral luncheons (particularly in the culture of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).
This is because rinsing or soaking will remove the natural starches contained in the potato, which is used to help thicken the dish as it cooks. Rinsing or soaking also makes potatoes more watery—and you don't want to add water to the creamy dish.
High heat will cause the milk to curdle. Use milk or cream with higher fat content. Whole milk, half-and-half, or cream and full-fat cheeses are necessary. Skim milk and reduced-fat products will not be your friend in this dish.
You can assemble the dish and refrigerate for about 8 hours before baking, or you can bake it and refrigerate for about 24 hours before serving. To reheat, cover with foil and warm in a 350°F oven for about 20 minutes. Unfortunately, this dish does not freeze well.
Do not refrigerate or freeze fresh potatoes before cooking. Colder temperatures lower than 50 degrees cause a potato's starch to convert to sugar, resulting in a sweet taste and discoloration when cooked. There is no need to store your potatoes in a bag; you can store them loose.
The curdling is caused by high heat, which is hard to avoid in an oven. So to keep the sauce together, tackle it before the dish goes in the oven. Instead of simply layering grated cheese and milk or cream with the potatoes, you need to make a smooth cheese sauce.
Watery scalloped potatoes are not good, and is often caused by using the wrong type of potato. This recipe requires starchy potatoes, such as russets or Yukon golds, not waxy potatoes. Another cause is washing or holding the sliced potatoes in water (as outlined in the question above).
Poke the potatoes with a fork just enough to pierce the skin so the potato won't burst when baking, especially in the microwave. Four or five times should be plenty. A potato is composed mainly of water, so poking them helps release steam as it cooks.
Introduction: My name is Barbera Armstrong, I am a lovely, delightful, cooperative, funny, enchanting, vivacious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
Prep time: 55 mins
