Hearty potato and ham gratin

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 people, you will need:

• 1 1 kg potatoes
• 2 1 sprig rosemary
• 3 1 litre whole milk
• 4 300 g ham
• 5 1 tablespoon lard
• 6 2 tablespoons French mustard
• 7 100 g Comté cheese
• 8 250 ml liquid cream
• 9 salt
• 10 pepper
• Total weight: 2,445 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
48 min.	1 hour 11 min.	1 hour 59 min.

Step by step recipe

1	The potatoes Peel 1 kg potatoes and slice (a mandolin is ideal for this). Rinse and dry the slices.
2	Put the potatoes into a large pan with 1 sprig rosemary. Salt, pepper and add enough milk to just cover.
3	Leave to cook on medium heat until the potatoes are tender, then drain. Set aside.
4	The fried ham Cut 300 g ham into small dice.
5	Melt 1 tablespoon lard in a small frying pan on high heat. When good and hot, add the ham.
6	Fry until nicely browned, stirring from time to time.
7	Take off the heat and add 2 tablespoons French mustard. Mix well. Set aside.
8	The gratin sauce Grate 100 g Comté cheese.
9	Put 2/3 of the grated Comté into a bowl, add 250 ml liquid cream and mix well.
10	Assembling the gratin Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C). Butter a gratin dish and spread half the potatoes in an even layer.
11	Add the diced mustard-flavoured ham...
12	...then the rest of the potatoes...
13	...and pour the gratin sauce over.
14	Finish by scattering the remaining Comté on top.
15	Bake for about 30 minutes.

Remarks

You can use a bouquet garni or a bayleaf instead of the sprig of rosemary in stage 2.
For the ham, the ideal thing is to buy an end of ham from your butcher or deli. If not, ask for a slice about half an inch thick.

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