Scalloped Potatoes (Cream, Milk and Gruyère)

IThis comforting, nostalgic dish starts with thinly sliced potatoes simmered with milk and cream. The potatoes and creamy mixture are then layered with Gruyère cheese in a casserole dish and baked, then finished under the broiler for a delicious, crispy top.

1 clove garlic, lightly smashed and peeled
butter, room temperature, for pan
4 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into ⅛" thick rounds (~ 8 medium)
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, lightly packed
1 tsp. sea salt
½ tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
⅛ tsp. nutmeg, freshly grated
6 oz Gruyère, coarsely grated (2¼ cups)

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C/170°C fan, Gas Mark 5). Rub the bottom and sides of a 3 qt baking dish with garlic; reserve garlic. Brush pan generously with butter.

Peel potatoes, then cut the potatoes into ⅛" thick rounds. Transfer potatoes and garlic to a large pot with cream, milk, thyme, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over high-heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 1 minute. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Spoon one third potato mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle with one third of cheese. Repeat layering twice more. Loosely cover dish with parchment-lined foil.

Bake until potatoes are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, about 35-40 minutes.

Remove the foil; turn the oven to broil. Broil until potatoes are bubbly and browned in places, about 3-5 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Letting the scalloped potatoes cool for 15 minutes is important. It is too hot to serve straight from the broiler and the dish needs time to set. If you cut into it before it cools slightly, the creamy mixture will be liquid and the potatoes too delicate, making it difficult to serve.

Cook’s Notes:

• Should the sliced potatoes be soaked in water? No, we don’t call for rinsing the sliced potatoes or for soaking them in water in our scalloped potatoes recipes. 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.
• Should scalloped potatoes be covered? Yes, we cover our creamy scalloped potatoes as they cook in the oven so that the top doesn’t brown before the potatoes are tender and cooked through. Then we remove the parchment-lined foil and finish the dish under the broiler to get a delicious crispy topping.