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Scalloped Potatoes With Bacon and Onions – What do you make when you want to test out the slicing ability of a new Mandoline slicer?
Scalloped potatoes seem like the perfect, quick and easy recipe to experiment with a new gadget.
You can buy bacon bits and even buy sautéed onions. You can buy a cheesy bacon potato casserole ready-made – all you have to do is heat it up. You can also prepare scalloped potatoes from scratch for a comfort food special.
Passed My Slicing Test With Flying Colors
The quickest part of putting together the recipe was the slicing of onions and potatoes.
By using a slightly deeper casserole pan than called for, I extended the cooking period by about 35 minutes but the end result was well worth the wait.
Served with pan fried rib pork chops, the potatoes were creamy, with wonderful pockets full of sautéed onions and bits of crisp bacon.
I must admit that I like my kitchen mandoline slicer. It did exactly what I thought it would do – slice my onions and potatoes down to the last sliver in beautifully even slices. No waste!
Gotta Have It Simple & Easy To Make 37 Relishing Scalloped Potato Recipes!
Description
What better recipe than scalloped potatoes with bacon and onions to test the slicing ability of a new Mandoline slicer? Let’s make some scalloped potatoes with over the top flavor by adding bits of bacon to the sautéed onions and then layering the potatoes and onion mixture!
Ingredients
6 large potatoes (about 3 lbs.)
2 to 3 tablespoons of Pompeian EVOO “robust” flavor
1 tablespoon European style butter with sea salt– 84% butter fat
4 oz. pack diced pancetta – Wegmans© Italian Classic bacon
2 medium to large yellow onions, sliced thin (#2 setting on the slicer)
1 tablespoon Italian Herbs (Tuscan Italian)
2 cups heavy cream
6 slices Gruyère Salt & freshly cracked black pepper to taste
1 pinch on truffle flavored salt
1 tablespoon fresh parsley chopped fine (to sprinkle over the top)
Butter or PAM© spray olive oil to grease the pan
Instructions
Using setting #2 (equivalent to 1/8 inch thickness) on the mandoline slicer, slice the onions and the potatoes. Set aside.
Evenly spray the bottom and sides of a 9 by 13 inch pan with the PAM© spray olive oil. If you prefer, coat the bottom and the sides with soft butter.
Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 375 degrees.
Put some olive oil in a large frying pan.
Add the diced pancetta and sauté for a few minutes then add the sliced onions.
Season with the Italian herbs.
Sauté the mixture for a few mixture until the onions are soft.
Place a layer of sliced potatoes along the bottom of the pan making sure to cover the bottom completely.
Overlap the potatoes if needed. Season to taste.
Top the potatoes with part of the onions and bacon mixture. Continue with another layer of potatoes and another layer of onions and bacon. Top with remaining potatoes.
Season lightly to taste.
Slowly pour the cream over the potatoes and then top with the slices of cheese.
Season the top with a pinch of salt and more freshly cracked pepper.
Cover tightly with heavy duty foil and place in the preheated oven.
Cook at 375 degrees for close to 1 1/2 hours or until a knife can easily pierce through the potatoes.
The potatoes should have absorbed all the liquid but allow the pan to rest for a few minutes after removing it from the oven.
Notes
I used a 9 by 13 by 2.5 inch foil pan but it was too deep. It took my scalloped potatoes close to two hours to be soft enough to poke with a sharp knife. I highly recommend a shallower pan.
Add A Layer of Flavor To Scalloped Potatoes With Bacon and Onions!
Truffle salt? You would be amazed at the incredible hint of “je ne sais quoi” flavor even a pinch of Truffle flavored salt adds it to your food.
Sprinkle just a pinch on your potatoes. I also keep a small bottle of truffle flavored oil handy for seasoning purposes.
Instead of the salt, add a few drops of the oil to the cream in your potatoes. Make your dinner guests wonder how you made the dish taste so rich.
The idea here is to use these special seasonings with a light touch especially when it comes to the truffle oil or truffle salt.
Too much quickly becomes too much!
Quick Scalloped Potatoes
As much as we all love potatoes prepared this way, it’s not the recipe you plan to include on the menu at the last minute.
Here’s a way to get scalloped potatoes on the table in short order. No, it is not a 90 second wonder but I will admit to having prepared this dish – with or without bacon and onions – by using this trick.
First, pre-heat the oven then use the Potato Express Pouch to pre-bake the potatoes until they are nearly done. Slice them as evenly as possible.
You can still use the herbs, the cheese, a pinch of truffle salt and even add real crumbled bacon pieces. You can also buy sautéed onions!
Instead of the heavy cream, use prepared canned soup ( heated and prepared with only HALF the required liquid). Use Half and Half instead of water.
Then it is only a matter of cooking the dish long enough to melt the cheese and get the cream all bubbly and golden brown.
You’ll have everyone at the table wondering how you managed to get scalloped potatoes with bacon and onions on the table so quickly! What is the special occasion? 🙂