By Luis and I sat on the porch after dinner. The evening was quiet. The desert sky went from pink to purple to dark. We held hands — briefly, the way we always hold hands, not dramatically but factually, the fact of two people who have been holding hands for thirty years and who hold because the holding is the marriage, not the ceremony. The porch. The sky. The hands. The enough.
There are evenings that ask nothing of you except to be present, and those are the ones I want to feed well. After sitting with Luis on the porch — the sky doing its slow, unhurried work of going dark — I didn’t want anything fussy or showy on the table. Potatoes au Gratin has always been that dish for us: honest, warm, and deeply satisfying in the way that thirty years of ordinary evenings are satisfying. It belongs to the porch and the quiet and the enough.
Vegetarian Potatoes au Gratin
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/8 inch thick)
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Gruyère cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for the baking dish
- 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- Warm the cream mixture. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the heavy cream, milk, garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Warm gently for 3–4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until fragrant. Do not boil. Remove from heat.
- Sauté the onion. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until softened and lightly golden. Season with a pinch of salt.
- Layer the potatoes. Arrange half the potato slices in an even, overlapping layer in the prepared baking dish. Scatter half the sautéed onion over the potatoes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of the Gruyère. Repeat with the remaining potatoes and onion.
- Add the cream and cheese. Pour the warm cream mixture evenly over the layered potatoes. Top with the remaining 1 cup of Gruyère and the cheddar cheese.
- Bake covered. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Finish uncovered. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until the top is bubbly and deep golden brown and the potatoes are completely tender when pierced with a knife.
- Rest and serve. Let the gratin rest for 10 minutes before serving so the cream sets slightly. Garnish with fresh thyme if desired.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 420 | Protein: 13g | Fat: 28g | Carbs: 32g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 360mg