Smashed Roast Potato and Thyme Gratin

Submitted by bluemoon downunder

"A budget-saving recipe for using leftover roast potatoes. You could also use leftover pumpkin, kumara and califlower or a combination of these or other leftover vegetables. This gratin matches well with reheated leftover roast meat or with a savoury ground meat dish or with sausages, such as Recipe #350542 or Recipe #352722. If you prefer vegetarian dishes, simply omit the bacon. This is on of several recipes I've adapted from one in 'The Australian Women's Weekly's Cooking on a Shoestring'. I've also posted Recipe #365835 and Recipe #366203."

 

• Ready In: 45mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 60 g butter (2 ounces)
• 1 medium brown onion, sliced thinly (150g or just under 5 ounces)
• 1 leek, white and inner green tender leaves, thinly sliced
• 2 -4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 600 g roast potatoes, cut into halves (just over 19 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 cup milk (250ml/8 fl.oz. )
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
• sea salt, to taste (add with caution as the potatoes were undoubtedly salted when first cooked)
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1⁄2 cup sunflower seeds (optional)
• 2 slices rindless bacon, fat removed, chopped
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (120g or just under 4 ounces)

directions

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan-forced/400°F/gas mark 6; oil four 1-cup (250ml/8 fluid ounce) shallow ovenproof baking dishes.
2. Melt 10g of the butter in a medium saucepan; cook the onion, leek and garlic, stirring, until softened.
3. Meawhile, use a potato masher to gently crush the potato in a large bowl; stir in the onion, leek, garlic mixture.
4. Melt the remaining butter in the same pan, add flour; cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and bubbles; gradually stir in the milk; cook, stirring, until the white sauce boils and thickens; remove the pan from the heat; sir in the thyme and half the cheese.
5. Stir the white sauce into the potato mixture; spoon the gratin mixture into the prepared dishes; sprinkle each with the chopped and grated cheese.
6. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned and the bacon is crisp.
7. NOTE: What Australians call a brown onion is what Americans call a yellow onion, and I'm not sure what everyone else calls them. For some reason - though I've done so in the past - I wasn't able to include this in the ingredients.