This lightened version of the classic French dish Pommes Anna uses chicken broth in place of butter between the thin layers of potato. A touch of mayonnaise in the broth and a finishing touch of melted butter bring back the richness without the calories.
Pommes Anna are thinly sliced and layered with clarified butter between the layers. The dish is baked or fried in a spring form type pan. The traditional dish is turned every ten minutes or so so both the top and bottom brown evenly. There is even a special pan available in France that allows for inverting the dish during cooking.
My simplified method will seem like a breeze after that! No inverting going on here!
Scalloped potatoes were a holiday meal staple in my house growing up. My whole family has a weakness for my Mom’s version of scalloped potatoes. I will have to post that recipe one day soon. These, in the meantime are just a bit lighter and don’t carry the lactose load of scalloped potatoes either.
Ideally use a spring form pan so you can remove the sides after they are cooked. You can slice them pie-fashion if you like. If you don’t want to use a spring form pan you can spray any baking dish and fill with your layers. As it happened, my springform was ‘otherwise engaged’ with a cheese cake so I used an ordinary casserole. You will just have to cut the finished potatoes into smaller portions and remove the pieces with a serving spatula.
The mayonnaise isn’t mandatory but it is surprising how it adds a touch of creaminess to the dish. I sometimes add a few thin yellow onion slices between the first two layers as well. They are usually well received!
These are really good the next day too! They are much easier to cut, slice and serve after they have been chilled through once. So… there is a good argument for make ahead with this dish too!
I served these with Roast Lamb with White Wine and Major Grey’s and Oven Roasted Asparagus and they were delicous! And.. that whole menu you can make in your oven. Set your table and sit back and have a glass of wine while your oven does all the work! Easy peasy!
Ingredients
- 6 medium Yukon Gold potatoes or other waxy potato
- 2 cups chicken broth approximately
- 2 Tbsps mayonnaise
- salt and pepper for seasoning
- Melted butter for serving Approximately 1/4 cup or to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spray 9 or 10" spring form pan.
- Mix the mayonnaise into the chicken broth and stir to break it up.
- Have salt and pepper ready to season each layer.
- Peel potatoes and slice thinly using a mandolin or slicing disk of food processor. Slices should be about 1/8" thick or less. (Paper thin)
- Spread one third of potato slices neatly on bottom of the pan. Season the layer lightly with salt and pepper. Pour enough chicken broth to just barely cover the potato layer.
- Repeat two more times. After the last layer is in place you should just be able to see the broth at the top edge of the casserole.
- (Note) Classic assembly places the slices neatly in concentric circles. I just make sure they lay flat and are evenly distributed around the pan).
- Bake approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Cooking time will depend on the depth of your pan. My potatoes were about 3" deep. Check potatoes after an hour. When they are fork tender in the middle of the pan they are done. Mine took 90 minutes.
- Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before removing the outer ring. Slice and serve. Pass melted butter or drizzle a bit on top as you are serving.