Potatoes Au Gratin With Less Dairy

 

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Potatoes Au Gratin With Less Dairy

Potatoes Au Gratin is a classic potato casserole, often served with steak, salad and a rich dessert.
This delicious but heavy lineup of foods can leave you in stomach pain! We decided to tone down the richness of the classic au gratin to extend the comfort of this dish from your mouth to your belly.
We've swapped the heavy cream for a thickened sauce of milk and bone broth. The umami of the bone broth stealthily replaces the richness of the cream while lending collagen to the recipe. In our trials, this au gratin satisfies our taste buds and soothes our digestive systems.
Prep Time40 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 45 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: French
Keyword: au gratin potatoes, bone broth, collagen, cooking with less dairy, gut health recipe, less dairy, less rich
Servings: 8

Equipment

  • 1 lasagna pan 9"x13"
  • 1 large colander for draining potatoes

Ingredients

  • 6 cups russet potatoes, peeled, thinly sliced and stored in cold water (a mandoline slicer is helpful) we use 3 (8 inch) potatoes
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 5 tbsp butter plus more for buttering the pan
  • 5 tbsp flour
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 2 cups milk we use 2%
  • 2 cups Taking Stock Foods Classic Chicken Bone Broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cups Gruyere cheese, shredded (8 ounces)

Instructions

Heat oven and grease lasagna pan

  • Preheat the oven to 375.
  • Prepare the lasagna pan by greasing it with a thin coating of butter. Set aside.

Cook potatoes au gratin sauce

  • Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan. Once the butter is melted and bubbling, add the onions. Saute the onions over medium heat until opaque and tender, 6-8 minutes.
  • Add the flour, thyme, pepper and salt. Stir over medium heat until the butter absorbs all the flour and creates a thick, fragrant paste, about 2 minutes.
  • With a whisk at the ready, pour in 1/2 cup of the milk. Whisk rapidly to incorporate the milk completely into the paste and eliminate any clumps.
    Repeat over 2 additions with the remaining flour.
    At this point, stir the mixture until it is simmering. Once your milk mixture has reached a simmer, whisk in the 2 cups of bone broth.
  • Add the bay leaf to the thickened milk/broth.*
    Turn the temperature down to medium low and simmer for about 10 minutes, whisking periodically to keep the bottom of the pan from burning. Remove from heat.
  • *When you add the bay leaf to the sauce, drain your potatoes into the colander, and allow them to sit for 10 minutes while the sauce is cooking to ensure thorough draining.

Assemble and bake potatoes au gratin

  • Place 1 layer of sliced potato pieces on the bottom of the buttered lasagna pan. It doesn't matter if there are small gaps; subsequent layers will cover them up.
  • Using a spoon, drizzle 3-4 large spoonfuls of sauce over the entire layer of potatoes.
  • Sprinkle a spare layer of Gruyere cheese over the potatoes and sauce.
  • Continue to assemble the potatoes au gratin in this order until all the ingredients are used up. If you are running out of cheese at the end, make sure to hold some back to sprinkle over the top of the potatoes.
  • Bake in the oven for 70 minutes, checking after one hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.