Potatoes Provencal

So Sue wanted to make the Potatoes Provencal she saw recently to go with our Beef Wellington. Sure!

  

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 onions, thinly sliced (2 heaping cups)
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
• Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 1½ pounds ripe tomatoes, seeded and cut into strips about ⅜-inch wide (we used large plum tomatoes)
• 2 or 4 ounces canned anchovies packed in olive oil, drained (reserve anchovies and oil separately) (we used 4 ounces of anchovies)
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
• 2 tablespoons fresh herbs, such as thyme, oregano or sage, or 2 teaspoons dried herbes de Provence
• About 2 pounds thin-skinned, waxy potatoes like Yukon Gold, sliced ⅛-inch thick (6 to 7 cups)
• ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Gruyère

 

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees and place a rack at the middle level. In a large saucepan, combine onions and 2 tablespoons olive oil and stir to coat over low heat. Sprinkle lightly with salt.
2.  Cook on low heat uncovered until onions are softened and lightly golden, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often. Do not brown; lower the heat if necessary. When done, fold in tomatoes just until heated through. Set aside.
3. In a small food processor, add the drained anchovies — anywhere 2 to 4 ounces, depending on their size and your taste. Add garlic, herbs and a dozen grinds of pepper. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil (or use the oil from the anchovy can, if you like). 
4. Crush or pulse together into a chunky paste, thinning with oil as needed to make a loose, fluid mixture.
5. In a medium-size baking dish such as an 8" square pan, spread a quarter of the onion-tomato mixture. On top, arrange half the potato slices, then half the anchovy sauce. Add half the remaining onion-tomato mixture. Build one more layer with remaining potato slices, anchovy sauce and onion-tomato mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top.
6. Bake, uncovered, until potatoes are tender and have absorbed all of the juices in the bottom of the dish, 40 to 50 minutes. Test by tasting a bit of potato; it should be soft all the way through, with no raw taste. 
7. If the top is browning too fast, cover very loosely with a sheet of foil. If the top is not brown enough when the potatoes are cooked, broil briefly until deliciously glazed.
   (We started cooking the potatoes, and when the Beef Wellington was ready for the over, covered the potatoes with foils and kept baking the potatoes.)
8. Serve gratin hot or warm.We refireated the leftovers, and ate them another day.

 

Carole's Notes:

Dinner was great! We served the Potatoes Provencal with Beef Wellington and a strawberry spinach salad (a version of this one, with no hardboiled egg.)



The recipe is from https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018308-julia-childs-provencal-potato-gratin