Smashed Roast Potato And Thyme Gratin

Total Time: 45 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 60 g butter (2 ounces)
• 1 medium brown onion, sliced thinly (150g or just under 5 ounces)
• 1 leek, and inner green tender leaves, thinly sliced
• 2 -4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 600 g roast potatoes, cut into halves (just over 19 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 cup milk (250ml/8 fl.oz. )
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped
• sea salt, to taste (add with caution as the potatoes were undoubtedly salted when first cooked)
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (optional)
• 2 slices rindless bacon, fat removed, chopped
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (120g or just under 4 ounces)

Recipe

• 1 preheat the oven to 220°c/200°c fan-forced/400°f/gas mark 6; oil four 1-cup (250ml/8 fluid ounce) shallow ovenproof baking dishes.
• 2 melt 10g of the butter in a medium saucepan; cook the onion, leek and garlic, stirring, until softened.
• 3 meawhile, use a potato masher to gently crush the potato in a large bowl; stir in the onion, leek, garlic mixture.
• 4 melt the remaining butter in the same pan, add flour; cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and bubbles; gradually stir in the milk; cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens; remove the pan from the heat; sir in the thyme and half the cheese.
• 5 stir the sauce into the potato mixture; spoon the gratin mixture into the prepared dishes; sprinkle each with the chopped and grated cheese.
• 6 bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned and the bacon is crisp.
• 7 note: what australians call a brown onion is what americans call a yellow onion, and i'm not sure what everyone else calls them. for some reason - though i've done so in the past - i wasn't able to include this in the ingredients.