I purchased a lot of red potatoes with the idea that I was going to go on a diet where I would swear off almost all carbohydrates except potatoes. Ha! It lasted ONE day. I should have known better. I’m too much of a foodie to ever diet.
Anyway, with this diet in mind, I made scalloped potatoes à la Jacques Pépin, or at least in the spirit of his recipe as I made some tweaks to it.
Normally, scalloped potatoes are made using a thin béchamel sauce. They can be made “Au Gratin” with the addition of cheese (Gruyère). I saw this variation by Jacques Pépin and I decided to give it a whirl. I did not add any cheese to mine but feel free to add 1 cup of shredded Gruyère to the top before baking.
Here’s my tweaked version…
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 40-50 minutes
Yield: 12 servings
Printingredients
- 5 medium (fist size) red-skinned potatoes, washed, peeled and thinly sliced – can use Yukon Gold or Russets as well
- 2 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon (2 cloves) minced garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions, optional
- 3/4 teaspoon hot chili flakes, optional
- salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
1.Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
2. Spray or lightly coat with oil an 8-9 cup oven-proof pan with a 2-inch lip and place it over an aluminum lined cookie sheet.
3. Wash the potatoes first. Peel, and slice thinly, about 1/8-inch thick. The thinner, the better.
You must wash the potatoes BEFORE peeling and not AFTER as you will need the natural starch in the potatoes to help thicken the sauce.
Slice the potatoes as thinly as possible
4. Place the potatoes, garlic, milk, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and chili flakes, if using, in a 5-quart non-stick pan. I used an anodized aluminum pan.
5. Bring the milk up to a boil gently and stir to ensure that the milk does not scorch the bottom of the pan.
6. Cook for about 3-4 minutes after it has reached a boil.
7. Add the scallions, if using.
8. Pour out the mixture into the prepared oven-proof pan. Cover with 1 cup of heavy cream and bake in the preheated oven for about 40-55 minutes.
Potatoes with milk and seasonings 
potatoes after the addition of heavy cream
9. The potatoes should be fork-tender and the casserole should be bubbling and slightly caramelized.
10. Delicious either hot or cold. Can be served at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
finished product
Written by Anju Kapur of Anju’s Table. All content and images on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without my permission. Should you wish to share this recipe on your site, please add a link to this post as the source.