Weeknight · All year
Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
Thin potatoes in a butter-and-milk sauce, with ham. No canned soup.
1 hour 30 minutes · Serves 6 · One 9-by-13-inch pan
“You prepare a table before me.”
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1 ½ tsp fine salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 lb russet potatoes, peeled and sliced 3 millimeters thick
- 2 cups diced cooked ham
Method
- 1
Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch pan. Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the milk. Simmer, whisking, until the sauce thickens a little, about 4 minutes. Add the salt and pepper.
- 2
Layer half the potatoes, half the ham, and half the sauce. Repeat. The potatoes should be just coated, not swimming. Press them down.
- 3
Cover and bake 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 20 to 30 minutes more, until a knife goes through the center with no hard potato, and the top is spotted brown.
- 4
If the top is dark and the center is still hard, cover it again and keep baking. Rest 10 minutes so the sauce sets.
From the kitchen
- A thick slice of potato will still be raw when the edges are done. Take the time to slice them thin and even.
- Ham is salty. Taste a piece before you add the full amount of salt to the sauce, and hold some back if the ham is already sharp.
My note
Kept on this device, beside the recipe, for the next time you cook it.
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