Potatoes Au Gratin with Fennel and Bacon

29 Ratings
  • 5 Rating Star 14
  • 4 Rating Star 7
  • 3 Rating Star 5
  • 2 Rating Star 2
  • 1 Rating Star 1
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Delectable creamy Au Gratin Potatoes are enhanced with subtle flavors of fennel and bacon. Caution: this recipe will make people break your door down for some more. I never measure unless baking, always use eyeball judgement, so feel free to adjust to your personal feel and taste. To create a more crispy top, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs over the top when there is about 15 minutes left to cook.

By TX_Brad
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Fry bacon in a large skillet until browned. Drain on paper towels. Chop or crumble, and set aside.

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  • Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth and starting to bubble. Gradually whisk in milk while stirring constantly so that no lumps form. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with white pepper, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese until smooth, adding a handful at a time. Set aside.

  • Use 1/3 of the potatoes to make a layer in the bottom of a greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Top with 1/3 of the fennel, 1/3 of the bacon and 1/3 of the basil. Pour about 1/3 of the cheese sauce over everything. Repeat layers two more times or until you run out of room. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.

  • Bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the cover during the last 30 minutes to allow the top to brown if desired.

Tip

Aluminum foil helps keep food moist, ensures it cooks evenly, keeps leftovers fresh, and makes clean-up easy.

Nutrition Facts

Per Serving:
496.99 calories; 22.8 g protein; 34 g carbohydrates; 30.48 g fat; 87.32 mg cholesterol; 779.81 mg sodium.Full Nutrition

Reviews (26)

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Most helpful positive review

Anonymous
07/25/2008
Wow this was so good I am craving more as I write this review. Every single person in my family toddlers included ate this so fast that we barely came up for air! Normally my husband does not like fennel so thanks for a recipe that makes us both happy!
Helpful
(22)

Most helpful critical review

Anonymous
05/07/2010
i followed recipe pretty closely only i used dried basil. I did not think this was any tastier than boxed Betty Crocker au gratin. did not see the big deal
Helpful
(4)
29 Ratings
  • 5 Rating Star 14
  • 4 Rating Star 7
  • 3 Rating Star 5
  • 2 Rating Star 2
  • 1 Rating Star 1
Reviews:
Most Helpful Most Positive Least Positive Newest
Anonymous
07/25/2008
Wow this was so good I am craving more as I write this review. Every single person in my family toddlers included ate this so fast that we barely came up for air! Normally my husband does not like fennel so thanks for a recipe that makes us both happy!
Helpful
(22)
JV
08/29/2008
I have made this twice now and it has turned out EXCELLENT both times. I started to use it as a base recipe but have ended up following it pretty much to a T except for the fennel since I generally dont have it on hand. I also include about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of diced onion (eyeballed) sprinkling it on during the layering process. I definitely have to agree with a previous reviewer in that prep time is AT LEAST an hour even with using a food processor for slicing the taters. Still it is tasty and now my go to recipe for gratin. Yummy goodness!:)
Helpful
(20)
lisa j
08/04/2008
The prep took me over an hour. Par boil the potatoes to lessen cooking time. I cooked it for an hour and a half as directed and the potatoes still weren't cooked. It took so long to make I almost didn't care how it tasted. And there are too many ingredients for me. Potatoes cheese and bacon pretty much does it for this kind of dish.
Helpful
(19)
Hannah
10/19/2008
Love it love it love it! And my picky boyfriend does too. Great with pork loin and salad. Be brave with the basil- would prefer a little more next time. I took the advice to par-boil the potatoes boiled for about 7 minutes then sliced. Cook for the full 90 minutes. Thanks for a good one! Having never had fennel before I feel much more confident after tasting this great dish.
Helpful
(13)
Anonymous
09/15/2008
This was very good. I used pancetta instead of bacon reduced-fat milk instead of whole and dried basil (didn't have fresh). It needed a bit longer to cook the potatoes (and I thought I sliced them thin enough) but it was worth the wait. A good left-over side dish. Thanks for the recipe.
Helpful
(13)
Linda Lu Cannon
11/08/2008
I omitted the bacon because I was serving this as a side dish to a roasted pork tenderloin. It was exactly the side dish I was looking for! Would be a great holiday side dish too. Again I really don't think you need the bacon at all! Dee-lish! Save some of the cheddar to sprinkle on the top and broil to crisp it up a wee bit before serving.
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(12)
Superstarr
09/15/2009
OMG how could something NOT be good with bacon in it? I didn't use fennel or basil because I didn't have any but did use flat-leaf parsley.
Helpful
(9)
Anonymous
05/04/2009
This was pretty good. I left out the fennel because my husband and I are afraid of the licorice taste. But the cooking time is lessened slightly with parboiling first and it was really cheesy bacony good.
Helpful
(8)
mrs smiff
05/08/2009
This is sooo easy to make and is well worth the cooking time. My family love it. Last time I omitted the bacon and used Mexican cheese. It was still delicious.
Helpful
(8)
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