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Onion, bacon and potato hotpot
From Cookipedia
Jocast Innes; brilliant author of 'The Pauper's cookbook ' and 'The country kitchen' amongst others, says that if she only ever cooked three recipes for the rest of her life, this would be one of them.
I wonder what the other two would be?
Ingredients
- 50 g (2oz) butter
- 50 g (2 oz) plain flour
- 600 ml (1 pint) milk
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
- 4 large onions, peeled and very thinly sliced
- 4 large potatoes, peeled and very thinly sliced
- 125 - 225 g (4-8oz) bacon rashers, rind removed and cut into strips
Mise en place
- Preheat the oven to 200° C (400° F - gas 6)
- Use a food processor to quickly and thinly slice the potatoes and onions.
Method
- Make a white sauce by melting the butter on a low heat in a small pan, stir in the flour and gradually whisk in the milk
- Bring to the boil stirring all the while, once smooth and thick, reduce the heat to a very low simmer, add the seasoning and nutmeg and leave it ticking over while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Grease a casserole dish and build up in layers of onion, potatoes and bacon bits, ending with potatoes
- Pour the white sauce over the top and jiggle well to distribute the sauce evenly
- Cover and bake for 1 hour at 200° C (400° F - gas 6), uncover and reduce to 180° C (350° F - gas 4) and cook for 1 final hour
Serving suggestions
Serve with winter vegetables such a as squashes, sprouts, cabbage or even bok choy.
Variations
I use about 100g of my home smoked bacon in this. It's quite strongly flavoured and getting valuable too, now we are getting to the last of it!
Add a few tablespoons of strong cheese to the white sauce for a nice cheesey variation.
