Scalloped potatoes… Scalloped ‘Hasselback’ potatoes… AND two kinds of cheese! Do I need to express more than that? Okay, how about garlic and rosemary… and cream? This recipe turns out impressive looking but mostly incredible tasting. Stacking the potatoes, easily by the way, in Hasselback fashion, does a couple of great things for this dish. First of all, it looks very cool. And second, every single bite of potato is guaranteed a crispy edge, while the rest practically melts in your mouth from creamy tenderness.
After two kinds of cheese- extra sharp and pepperjack- have been mixed with a little bit of cream and a perfect dose of garlic and rosemary, four pounds of potatoes get tossed in. With you hands you get to cover all the potatoes with the cheese mixture. Then simply stack them on their sides in a shallow 2-quart baking dish. This part takes no time at all…
The part that takes awhile is the cooking. To get perfectly tender, creamy potatoes with just the right amount of crispy edge, this dish bakes for 1 1/2 hours, part of the time uncovered, and the final 30 minutes with even extra cheese browning on top.
The result is the perfect combination of buttery-soft potatoes, and crispy-cheesy flavor. The only time consuming part of the preparation is slicing the potatoes. If you have a mandoline, then it’s a piece of cake. I just used a sharp knife and still found it rather quick to get the job done. This is a beautiful way to serve scalloped potatoes and so delicious, it won’t last long.
- 8 oz. shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
- 6 oz. shredded pepper jack cheese
- 1¼ cup heavy cream
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped plus extra to garnish
- 1¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 4½ pounds russet potatoes, peeled
- 1 small onion, sliced thin
- Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Grease shallow 2-quart oval baking dish or a 11x13 glass rectangle dish. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine Cheddar and pepper jack cheeses; transfer about 1 cup to a small bowl and set aside for topping later. To the large bowl with cheeses, add heavy cream, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper, stir lightly.
- Very thinly slice the potatoes; place in bowl with the cream and cheese mixture. With hands or large spoon, toss until all slices are well coated. Arrange slices in baking dish, sides facing up. If using oval bowl, arrange slices around outer edge and then fill center. If using 11-x13-inch rectangle, arrange slices in rows. After all potato slices are arranged, place the onion slices intermittently throughout the potatoes.
- Cover baking dish tightly with foil, place on lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, bake for additional 30 minutes. Sprinkle reserved cheese over top of potatoes, adding extra if you like, bake for final 30 minutes. Check potatoes with a fork and if needed, tent foil back on dish and turn off oven. Let potatoes remain and continue to soften in the warm oven for up to 20 minutes more.
- Sprinkle with extra rosemary if desired and serve.
I love this! I however double the sauce, and the cheese because I feel like the potato is kinda bland without it. But I love this recipe anyway. I think that this is a great recipe for families.