Light Scalloped Potatoes

For football saturday this past weekend I made Adam’s favorite french dip sandwiches.  I normally serve them with fries or potato wedges but wanted something a bit different this time and decided on scalloped potatoes.  These turned out great! The peeling and slicing of the potatoes is a bit cumbersome and tedious but was made much easier thanks to the mandolin slicer my mom got me earlier this year.  The flavor and creaminess of this dish made it so comforting.  I will say that we had to add quite a bit of salt and pepper to this dish after we served it, so I will adjust that below.  I also think it might be good to do a layer of the potatoes then a layer of cheese and then repeat so you have cheese in the middle and on top.  This dish in no way felt lightened up but felt decadent and elegant. It would be great for a dinner party.

Light Scalloped Potatoes
Source: Food Network

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for buttering the dish
3 lbs. yukon gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tbsp. all purpose flour
1 cup skim milk
1 cup fat free half & half (you can also use regular cream or whole milk)
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/4 cup shredded gruyere ( I used a shredded white mexican cheese)
2 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly butter a 3 qt. baking dish, set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Once boiling, add in 1/2 tsp. salt  and then add the potatoes and cook approximately 8 to 10 minutes, until just tender. Drain potatoes and return them to the pot.

In a small saucepan, melt 2 tbsp. butter over medium heat.  Add flour and stir to make a paste.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the paste puffs slightly, approximately 1-2 minutes. Gradually stir in milk and half & half.  Stir constantly until slightly thickened, approximately 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add in 3/4 tsp pepper, 2 tsp. salt & nutmeg.  Stir until incorporated.  Pour the sauce over the potatoes and stir gently to coat.  Pour potato mixture into the prepared baking dish and top with cheese (alternatively you could pour in half the potatoes, sprinkle with cheese, top with rest of potatoes and another sprinkling of cheese). Bake potatoes for 10 minutes.  Switch heat to broiler setting and broil for approximately 5 minutes, until the tops of the potatoes begin to brown. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes.