Great Gratin

I’ve been all about the comfort food today.

Thankfully, the rain held off long enough for Nick and I to get in a 4 mile run when he got home from work, but otherwise, it’s been extremely gloomy today!

We definitely need the rain, and I’m happy it’s here – plus, it’s given me a good reason to indulge in comforting meals.

I’m not sure why, but I had never made a potato gratin before tonight!

It’s a good thing I’m trying all these recipes from Food & Wine :) It gave me a good reason to finally try it.

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Ham, Potato, Spinach, and Cheddar Gratin

Inspired by Food & Wine’s Canadian Bacon, Potato, and Swiss Chard Gratin

  • 4-5 cups fresh baby spinach
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1.5 lbs yukon gold potatoes and sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
  • 3.5 oz. sharp cheddar, grated
  • 1 cup diced lean ham
  • 1 cup vegetable broth
  1. Preheat oven to 425.
  2. Peel and sliced potatoes and grate cheese.
  3. In 8×8 or oval baking dish, layer 1/3 of your potatoes and sprinkle with some salt and pepper.
  4. Layer 1/2 of ham on potatoes.
  5. Put all of spinach on ham.
  6. Layer another 1/3 of potatoes.
  7. Sprinkle on 1/2 of cheese with salt and pepper.
  8. Do one more layer of potatoes, salt and pepper.
  9. Layer the remaining cheese on top.
  10. Pour broth over dish.
  11. Cover baking dish and cook 15 minutes, covered.
  12. Uncover dish and bake another 20-30 minutes until potatoes are tender and cheese is browned and bubbly.
  13. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

I actually had swiss chard in the fridge, but I have another dish I want to make with it this week so I used the rest of my spinach instead. It saved me a step in the recipe and helped me clear out a little produce.

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The sweet potatoes were a last minute addition. I weighed out my yukon golds and was a little short, so I subbed in one sweet potato and I loved it!

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The little bit of sweetness from the sweet potato went so well with the creamy yukon golds and the sharp cheddar and salty bites of ham.

A perfect meal for a drizzly, rainy evening at home.

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9 comments

  1. I love that you used spinach in place of the chard. I’m not a fan of bitter greens like chard so it’s good to see this still works well without it. Potato gratin is such great comfort food!

    I made some braised short ribs from the recent F&W the other night.

  2. I always found scalloped potatoes to be incredible too rich but then I realized my dad’s recipe called for 5 cups of cheese and 2 sticks of butter. Ummm, yeah no wonder! :) LoL
    I love the idea of using sweet potatoes for this dish. Yours looks much lighter and delicious.

  3. Gratins are definitely very comforting. Such memories of Sunday dinner at Grandma’s :-)

  4. This looks like a great gratin, that is for sure ;) I have fond memories of my mom making gratins around thanksgiving and Christmas. It is a definite comfort food!! I bet I’d really love one with sweet potato in it :)

  5. Love the addition of the ham. Gratins are so comforting, I love them.

  6. I grew up eating a dish almost exactly the same…definitely remember the comfort eating it!

  7. Thinly sliced potatoes baked with cheese. Sounds like heaven ;)

  8. Gratins are one of my fav dishes to make–you can always throw in extra ingredients you have sitting in the fridge!

  9. I used to hate gratin potatoes but now I love them. That recipe looks pretty light too! I may have to try it!

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