Creamy Potato Bake with Roast Garlic and Cheese

Method

If you don't have roasted garlic, a quicker substitute is to shallow fry some unpeeled garlic cloves in an egg pan at a low-medium heat for 15 min or so. Don't use a higher heat as this can cause the garlic to turn bitter. Turn occasionally to make sure all sides get cooked evenly. Once done, allow to cool. Slice the stalk end end from the clove and squeeze out the contents like toothpaste. You could also use minced raw garlic here, it just won't have the same nutty taste.

In a medium-sized saucepan add the cream, garlic, bay leaf, cloves and milk. Bring the cream and milk mixture to the boil, turn off the heat, cover with a lid and set aside to infuse. Set the oven at 160C/145C fan.

Peel the potatoes and slice as thinly as you can, they should be almost translucent. A mandoline is the best thing for this task if you have it. You could use a food processor with the slicer attachment - set speed to slowest available and press firmly down as you feed in the potato. It does make the slices a bit small but it works. If you have the patience, use a sharp knife.

Butter a large, shallow baking dish or roasting tin. Place a single layer of potato slices over the base then add a handful of the grated cheese, scattered evenly over the surface. Add salt and black pepper.

Continue with more potatoes and the remaining cheese until you have used them all up, seasoning each layer as you go.

Remove the bay leaf from the infused cream and pour over the surface, then bake for 1 hour and 50 minutes to 2 hours, until the top is appetisingly brown and the potatoes are meltingly tender.