Gratin Lite

The third part of the Easter Saturday "Come Dine With Me" style trilogy was to be a main course that was quite rich but healthy too. The dish in question I made was a Potato Gratin.

On the player was Garth Brooks' third effort from 1991 "Ropin' The Wind". It is perhaps his strongest album as it strikes well the balance between hardcore country, bluegrass, country-rock and rock power ballads without Brooks losing his ability make a focused and truly great record.

The ingredients for the dish were as follows:

Five Spunta Potatoes, sourced from the local greengrocer, peeled and sliced very finely into pieces the width and thickness of crisps.
Seven knobs of Unsalted Butter.
Three tablespoons of Nutmeg
A teaspoon of Black Pepper
Seven fluid ounces of Plain Greek Yoghurt.
Seven fluid ounces of Almond Milk
Three ounces of Breadcrumbs
Four ounces of Pine Nuts.
A teaspoon of Dried Parsley.
Two ounces of grated Parmesan Cheese.

The method to make this minimalist yet filling main course is:

1. Grease a medium-sized pie dish.
2. Layer the Potatoes evenly throughout the pie dish.
3. Spread the Nutmeg, Black Pepper and Unsalted Butter evenly over the Potatoes.
4. Stir the Almond Milk and Greek Yoghurt together in a measuring jug and then pour evenly over the Potatoes.
5. Bake in the oven on Gas Mark 5 for one hour.
6. While the dish is cooking, mix together the Breadcrumbs, Pine Nuts, Dried Parsley and Parmesan.
7. After an hour remove the dish from the oven and sprinkle the Breadcrumb, Pine Nuts, Dried Parsley and Parmesan evenly over the top of it. Bake for another half an hour again on Gas Mark 5.

After the dish was cooked I removed it from the oven and presented it in my dining room before serving it in three equal portions. The Potatoes added much needed body to the dish while the Nutmeg made it flavoursome and the Breadcrumbs added texture. The Pine Nuts meanwhile gave plenty of protein to this tasteful dish.

Pine Nut and Potato Crunch- safely out of the oven and ready to serve.