This Potato Gratin has a decadent twist — Black Truffles! While you can use a variety of semi-hard “melty” cheeses, the Italian Truffle Cheese sold at Trader Joe’s adds a luxurious element to a simple side dish.
Truffle-Potato Gratin works very well with poultry, fish or beef and only one quarter of a 6″ gratin pan is a satisfying addition to your meal. The dish is easy to prepare, but does take time to cook, It will reheat well so if you don’t have time to make it after work, prepare it, put it in the oven for 90 minutes, let it cool and put it in the fridge for dinner the following night. Return it to the oven for 15 minutes to reheat, but watch it to ensure the cheese doesn’t burn.
Who said putting fresh, healthy food on the table has to be bland and boring? This decadent dish has just 206 calories and if you’re counting Weight Watchers Points Plus values, you’ll use 5 for this gratin. Enjoy!
| Truffle-Potato Gratin Recipe |
- Cooking Spray
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 1/2 small Onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup skim milk
- 1 large potato, thinly sliced
- 2 ounces Italian Black Truffle Cheese, grated
- 2 ounces Colby/Cheddar mix, shredded
- 4 grinds of fresh Black Pepper or 1/4 teaspoon
- Preheat the oven to 375º. Spray a shallow gratin pan with 6 pumps.
- In a small bowl, mix the cheese to combine and set aside.
- In a saucepan large enough to hold the sliced potatoes, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until onions just begin to brown. Do not overcook or they will become bitter.
- Stir in the flour, stirring constantly for 2 minutes, taking care not to burn it. You are creating a thickening agent (roux) for a béchamel sauce.
- While the roux is cooking, heat the milk in a microwave or in a small pan on the stovetop to take the chill off. Do not let it boil. Remove from the microwave or turn off the heat.
- Slowly pour the milk into the onion mixture, stirring constantly. The milk should begin to thicken. Continue to cook and stir until the milk mixture coats the back of a spoon. If it begins to thicken too much, add a bit more milk.
- Add the potatoes and stir in 3 ounces of the cheese. Stir to combine, taking care not to break the potato slices.
- Spread the mixture evenly in a gratin pan. Bake for 90 minutes. Check the potatoes at 60 minutes and cover with foil if they begin to darken too much. You want them to brown, but not burn.
- At 90 minutes, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and continue cooking for 2 minutes, just until the cheese is melted.
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Cut into quarters and serve.
- I have not added salt to this dish. The cheese adds the right balance of salt for me, but feel free to add as needed.
You can use any melting cheese you choose. I like the truffle cheese because of the hint of decadent flavor it adds.
While the points value for this side dish is a reasonable 5 points, it’s a rich dish, so take care not to make this a routine addition to your meals.
*5 Weight Watchers Points Plus
I love that you don’t use any weird faux-food or “light” stuff other than skim milk. I’ll give this one a whirl, it sounds delicious!
Yes, I’m not into the faux thing. I want good food and it’s possible — it’s just about portion control.
You’re gonna love my next recipe. I had it for dinner last night and lunch today. LOL
Oh this recipe looks quite yummy indeed! I just watched Martha – I think it was Martha – make 1 of these gratins only hers was LADEN with mucho calories!
I’ll bet. Potatoes au Gratin can be sooo fattening. I think I used to make it with heavy cream! aaaahhhhh!
Fran, love your new site. Congratulations! The fork and tape measure, the food and scale, really clean. Really, great job! I’m excited for you. By the way, I can see by your picture how much you’ve trimmed down since Cancun. This recipe looks delish. You had me at truffles. I’m an addict.There are lots of way to make a gratin, from all cream (the classic, but I can’t bring myself to eat something so fattening), to skinny like your recipe and still have fantastic taste. Again, great site! I need to update your link in my site.
Thanks Sally! Writing about it makes this all that much more fun. Now, to figure out how to do this and not ignore FRANtasticFood!
Oh I thought this blog replaced Frantasticfood! I must put your blog back on my favorites
!
This is a great idea for a recipe.