This is a variation on Nigel Slater's blue cheese and potato pie. It works particularly well at this time of the year, because the new potato skins add interest to the texture. Any hard cheese would suit -- as would any blue one. A generous portion for two.
600g new potatoes, scraped
4 onions, each cut in half then cut into chunks
Olive oil
150g Gruyere, grated
Salt, pepper
Put the potatoes into cold water in a saucepan, bring slowly to the boil, and simmer gently until tender. Drain.
Meanwhile, fry the onions in enough oil to prevent their catching on the pan, until soft and golden. About 20 minutes.
Roughly mash the potatoes with a fork, leaving them slightly lumpy. Stir in the onions and cheese. Add a little salt (the cheese is salty), and pepper according to taste. You could grate over a little nutmeg if you like.
Tip into a warm gratin dish, and bake in a gas mark 6/200C oven for about 15 minutes.
4 comments:
That sounds fabulous. Perhaps adding some chopped chives too..or is that too decadent? I can't approve of the possible use of blue cheese though. A foodstuff created by Satan himself.
Chives would be lovely. It would also be good with -- instead of the onions, I think -- some fried cubes of pancetta.
I love the sound of this too. Cheese, potato and onion's an unbeatable combination - even blue cheese (although it can have the unfortunate effect of making the dish look mouldy)
Incidentally I've just put up a post on The Frugal Cook about cooking without recipes to which you might like to contribute. Have you seen Glynn Christian's How to Cook without Recipes?
Have done, Fiona. This potato and cheese (sometimes with onion, sometimes pancetta, as well) idea is one I cook a lot, in various permutations. If I want to write it up, I have to give a recipe -- often with only the vaguest notion of the quantities I used.
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