Potato, Black Olive & Garlic Gratin

This potato dish comes from At Home in Provence, the new cookbook from Jeany Cronk, co-owner of winemakers Maison Mirabeau, and it really is comfort food at its finest.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

• 8 medium all-purpose potatoes, such as Agatha, Maris Piper or King Edward
• 4 garlic cloves
• A few gratings of nutmeg Herbes de Provence, to taste
• 1-1½ tbsp salt and freshly Ground black pepper
• Unsalted butter, for greasing
• 150 g (5½ oz/1½ cups) pitted black olives à la grecque, roughly chopped
• 600 ml (20 fl oz/2½ cups) single (light) cream
• 70 g (2½ oz) Comté, grated

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C fan (350°F).
2. Peel the potatoes, slice them thinly and evenly, then add them to a bowl of salted water to stop them from discolouring while you build the gratin.
3. Chop 3% of the garlic cloves, keeping one half whole.
4. Mix together the salt, pepper, nutmeg and herbes de Provence so you can easily and quickly season each layer.
5. Grease a large, deep baking dish, then rub the halved garlic clove all over the bottom and sides. Add a couple of layers of potatoes to the bottom, sprinkle over some of the seasoning mix and add some of the chopped olives and garlic – try to do this as evenly as possible, taking care not to over-season. Pour over a quarter of the cream. Repeat until you have run out of potatoes, ensuring that everything is well covered with liquid (if need be, add some milk to stretch the cream). Sprinkle the cheese over the top, then finish with some seasoning mix, garlic and olives.
6. Cook in the oven for about 1.5 hours, or until melt-in-the-mouth tender. Switch the oven to grill (broiler) and bake for a few minutes (set yourself an alarm so you don’t forget) to crisp up the cheese. Serve piping hot in the dish on a wooden board..

Note

If you are in a real rush, you can parboil the potatoes (which will reduce your baking time to around 35 minutes) and it will still be very moreish!

Lead photo credit : Photo: Lizzie Mayson