Thanksgiving and Christmas are the perfect times to serve a variety of tasty and beautiful side dishes. I usually know months before the actual event—we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but do have two official days of Christmas—what kind of meat or poultry I’ll be cooking, it’s those darn side dishes that make me rip out my hair out by the handful.

I did my best trying to come up with a side dish that almost everyone likes, but that looks and tastes like a million bucks and can be made ahead of time. However, I didn’t just want to throw some potatoes in a oven tray, cover them with cream and cheese and pass them off as a thanksgiving side dish. Too easy. So I took a slightly different approach.

Okay, so I’ll admit it’s no vitamin bomb nor is it going to be friendly to your waistline, but it sure is delicious!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds potatoes (pommes parisienne)
3 spring onions (or a small onion)
3 sun-dried tomatoes
2 tbsp flour
1 large garlic clove
1/2 vegetable bouillon cube
3 oz bacon
flat-leaf parsley
1/4 tsp dried basil
grated cheese
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup cream
1 cup water
pepper

Optional: coarse mustard

Directions:

The happy lot. My chosen ones.

I chopped 3 large spring onions for this. Using a regular small onion or 2 shallots also works beautifully. You have choices, you know!

I grated a large garlic clove. No gratin without garlic.

Finely chop 3 big sun-dried tomatoes. They’ll add loads of flavor.

Finely chop a handful of flat-leaf parsley for a nice earthy tone.

I’m going for a shortcut and use store-bought parboiled potatoes. My bad, I know. If you use regular potatoes parboil them for about 10 minutes—they still have to be firm. Transfer the potatoes to an oven dish and sprinkle the sun-dried tomatoes all over them.

In the mean time we’ll cook the bacon until brown and crispy. Drain it on a paper towel but don’t clean out the pan. Don’t even think about cleaning it! As soon as the bacon cools off, crumble it with your hands and lick your fingers. Licking your fingers is a very important step. It will set you free.

In stead of cleaning out the skillet, you simply add 2 tbsp butter to the bacon fat. Throw in the onions and cook for a minute. Cook regular onions for about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic and give it another minute.

Add your flour and cook for a minute to neutralize its rawness. Lotsa minutes there. Pour in a cup of water (or make the broth ahead of time) and stir vigorously until you have a smooth sauce. Crumble in the 1/2 a vegetable bouillon cube and bring the sauce to a boil.

Lower the heat and stir in a really full 1/3 cup of cream. I opted for a lower fat version. Now this is completely optional but I like a slight hint of basil in my potatoes, so I’ll add 1/4 to 1/2 a tsp dried basil and lots of black pepper. Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes.

Tip: adding some coarse mustard will give the sauce a wonderful kick as well!

Turn off the heat and stir in the crumbled bacon and flat-leaf parsley.

Pour the sauce all over the potatoes and distrubute evenly.

It was then that I decided this would be my new best potato gratin.

Top the potatoes with grated cheese, a generous amount. Surprise, I used Gouda cheese! Don’t be scared, ’tis the season!

Pop them in a preheated oven and bake them at 400F (200C) for 25 to 30 minutes. Until the potatoes are beautifully brown, steamy hot and bubbling with melted cheese.

Be still my beating heart.

Mark my words, these are going to be an absolute hit on your Thanksgiving or Christmas table.

Kay’s Recipe Card

Click here for printable size.

Tags: bacon, butter, cheese, coarse mustard, cream, dried basil, flatleaf parsley, garlic, pepper, pommes parisienne, potatoes, spring onions, sun-dried tomatoes, vegetable bouillon cube, water