Serrano & Potato Gratin

Serrano & Potato Gratin combines the creaminess of traditional gratin with red potatoes and an added kick of spicy serrano peppers.

Serrano peppers are just a tad bit hotter than your jalapeno pepper and in this dish, they pair perfectly with the creamy, mild flavor of traditional gratin. Control the level of heat by removing the seeds. While the layers of thinly sliced potatoes, creamy cheese sauce and serrano peppers bake to perfection, the heat from the serrano peppers gracefully permeate the dish.

This dish uses a no-fail method for making gratin potatoes.  Making a simple cheese sauce to coat the potatoes ensures a creamy end product. One of the biggest problems with gratin dishes is maintaining the creamy consistency. Some dishes call for cream, shredded cheese and potatoes layered in a dish and then baked off in the oven.  This can result in a curdled cheese mixture if not baked at the correct temperature and time. Making the cheese sauce ahead of time solves this common problem.  

If you are looking for a potato gratin that stands out from the rest, Serrano & Potato Gratin is the dish for you.

Ingredients in Serrano & Potato Gratin

• Potatoes – Red or yellow potatoes, thinly sliced, with their buttery texture are perfect for this dish.
• Cheese – A combination of creamy Monterrey Jack cheese and Sharp White Cheddar cheese.
• Peppers – Serrano peppers give the rich creaminess a pop of heat.
• Onion – Sweet yellow onion, sliced thin and sautéed for texture and flavor.
• Heavy Cream – Using heavy cream instead of milk increases the creamy richness.
• Other – Butter, salt and pepper.

Pair This Dish With:

• Sweet & Spicy Citrus Salmon
• Sweet Corn & Snap Peas
• Mango Chili-Lime Cake

Print Pin

Serrano & Potato Gratin

Golden browned red potato gratin with warm and spicy Serrano peppers

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Mexican, Vegetarian

Keyword Easter side dish, Spicy Potato Dish

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 40 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp butter divided
• 1 small yellow onion thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese shredded
• 1 cup Sharp white cheddar cheese shredded
• 4 cups red potatoes thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3-4 Serrano peppers halved, remove seeds if desired for less spicy

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a medium baking dish (10" x 6") NOTE: This is a little smaller than your standard casserole dish. Higher heat causes cheese to curdle.
• In a small pan over medium heat, saute onion in 1 tbsp. butter until just softened.
• Remove onions from pan. Add 2 more tbsp. butter to pan. When melted, add 1/4 cup flour to butter and stir to combine. Slowly stir in heavy cream and milk, continue stirring until thickened. Add grated cheese and stir to combine until all melted. Return sautéed onions back to mixture.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine cheese mixture, potato slices, salt, pepper and Serrano peppers together. Pour into prepared baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake for about 90 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender and top is browned.

Notes

If making with spiral ham that needs to be warmed at 275 degrees, put in the oven at the same time as ham.  Then after removing ham to cut, broil the potatoes to get the top nice and browned.