Easy cheesy potato bake sounds a heck of a lot more approachable than Potatoes Au Gratin. I couldn’t call it a true Au Gratin because I didn’t use all the ingredients but more just the idea. If you have some sort of milk, cheese, and butter you can achieve this recipe. Which is perfect for these pantry stressed times.

Cheesy Potato Bake

ingredients

• 3- 4 cups russet potatoes, slice

• 3tbsp butter, melted

• 3 tbsp flour

• 2 cups of milk or 1 cup of heavy cream

• 1 cup shredded cheese (your choice)

• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1/4 tsp of hot sauce

• 1 tbsp chives, chopped ( If using dried only use 1/2 tbsp)

• crispy prosciutto or bacon (see note below)

instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a round pyrex dish or baking pan.

2. Arrange the potato slices, overlapping in a circle.

3. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk. Keep mixing to thicken and once the milk is warmed through remove from heat; stir in cheese until melted. Then add in your hot sauce, and garlic powder. Stir to combine.

4. Pour over the potatoes in your baking pan.

5. Place in the oven for about 30-40 minutes until the top becomes bubbly and starts to brown.

6. Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes, top with chives and crumbled prosciutto if desired.

RECIPE NOTES: Crisp up some bacon and crumble it over top once it gets out of the oven if you desire! Prosciutto would work well too. Just add a drizzle of olive oil to a saute pan and let prosciutto cook as you would bacon until it is cooked through and crispy.