As a side dish, potato gratin is hard to beat. This potato gratin with pancetta is packed full of flavour and so easy to make too.
At its heart, a potato gratin is a baked potato dish with cream, and often garlic. The dish features thinly sliced potatoes that cook gently with some garlic, making a soft, scrumptious side dish that works wonderfully with any roast dinner (including Christmas dinner!)
For this potato gratin, I’ve upped the flavour stakes with some diced pancetta on top. It goes beautifully crisp while baking in the oven, and drenches the potato with that smoky, salty taste. Divine!
The Ingredients
- Potatoes – use simple white potatoes. There is no need to peel them, though you can if you want to. The peels have lots of nutrients, and avoiding peeling them saves you a job!
- Garlic – use big, fresh cloves of garlic for ultimate flavour. DO NOT switch for garlic powder.
- Vegetable stock – or water and a vegetable stock cube, or you can use homemade stock – chicken works well.
- Cream – you can use either double or single cream.
- Pancetta – get a good quality pancetta and dice it evenly (if it doesn’t come already diced).
- Thyme – thyme leaves add a fragrant and savoury taste to the dish, but they are optional.
What to serve potato gratin with
Here are some options for dishes to serve alongside your gratin:
- Classic Baked Ham
- Mulled Wine Roast Duck
- Orange and Brandy Roast Duck
- Braised Pork Belly
- The Best Barbecued Pork Loin
- Texan Style Slow Cooked Beef
- Roast Beef Dinner with Yorkshire Puddings
- Persian Roast Spatchcock Chicken
- Greek Style Roast Chicken and Vegetables
Potato Gratin with Pancetta
Creamy potato and garlic gratin topped with pancetta
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Equipment
- 1 jug
Ingredients
- 800 grams white potatoes
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 300 ml vegetable stock
- 100 ml double cream
- 80 grams pancetta diced
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
- Thinly slice the potatoes (no need to peel). Peel and finely chop the garlic.
- In a large ovenproof dish, layer 1/4 of the potatoes over the bottom and top with 1/3 of the garlic cloves. Repeat until all of the potato and garlic has been used.
- Pour over the vegetable stock, then the cream. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, then sprinkle the pancetta and thyme leaves over the top.
- Put in the oven for 40 minutes until the potatoes are soft and the pancetta is golden and crisp. If the pancetta looks like it is cooking too quickly, cover with foil.
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