Asiago Rosemary Au Gratin Potatoes

I’ll admit it…this recipe was created out of desperation. I had a lot of potatoes sitting in my refrigerator that were going to go bad if I didn’t use them and I had no idea what to do with them. And to make matters worse, they weren’t even all the same kinds of potatoes. I had two pounds of fingerling potatoes, a pound of small white potatoes and a pound of red potatoes. What the hell was I going to do with this hodge podge of tubers? As I dug deeper into my refrigerator, I found some rosemary and Asiago cheese AND milk and heavy cream that hadn’t expired. Sweet! Au gratin potatoes, here I come!

Let’s face it, in my world cheese makes everything better. So it was a no brainer for me to toss cheese in with my odd assortment of potatoes. I also had an onion that was on it’s last leg, so I decided to add them into the mix. It was a refrigerator cleaning bonanza…all produce must go! And trust me when I say no clearance sale tasted quite as good as this one. I also decided to play up the different sizes and shapes in the three varieties of potatoes by slicing them differently. Fingerling potatoes became cute coins and the small round red and white potatoes were halved and cut into little moons. Some would call this playing with my food…and I’d tell said people to shut the fuck up. That was a bit harsh, wasn’t it? Perhaps I’ve eaten too many carbs this week…

Asiago Rosemary Au Gratin Potatoes

3 pounds potatoes, various varieties encouraged!

1 medium onion, sliced

3 stems fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups Asiago cheese, grated

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Grease a rectangular baking dish and set it aside. Slice the potatoes in various shapes, depending on the types of potatoes you are using, and place them in the baking dish. Slice the onion and add to the potatoes. Chop the rosemary and toss the potato/onion mixture with the fresh rosemary. Salt and pepper the potatoes and onions and set the dish aside.

Using a box grater, grate the Asiago cheese until you have one and a half cups. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Have the milk, heavy cream and cheese waiting beside the stove before adding the flour to the butter. Slowly add said flour to the melted butter while whisking the mixture. Whisking while slowly adding the flour will help to prevent lumps from forming in the cheese mixture. Once all the flour is added, slowly add the milk, continuing to whisk. Add the heavy cream and stir until all the ingredients are combined. Reduce the heat slightly and continue stirring until the mixture thickens. Add the cheese and stir until it has melted. Once melted, remove the mixture from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour the cheese sauce over the potato mixture and place aluminum foil over the pan. Bake the potatoes for 2 hours or until the top is golden brown.