Creamy Potatoes and Ham Au Gratin

We had a wonderful Christmas dinner. Lots of great food and wonderful laughs with family. Cleanup even went quickly with lots of helping hands. But then we are always left with the inevitable leftovers. This year I needed a fairly quick, but still wonderful, recipe to use with leftover ham. Ree Drummond to the rescue! I found this easy recipe on her site Pioneer Woman and also on Food Network. Of course I had to make it. I mean, how can ham, potatoes, and cheese not be good, right?

There are minor differences in the two recipes but basically they are the same, I used the one on Food Network because it used less potatoes and looked more like a dish our size.

So here is what I did.

First I got all my ingredients together.

This is what 2 pounds of potatoes look like.

Saute the onions in butter

 and then add flour.

Add milk and half-and-half and cook till creamy.

Grate the cheese....

This looks like one cup of cheddar right? Well, I may have used a little bit extra, lol.

Layer half the potatoes in a buttered 2 quart casserole dish.

Add half the ham and half the cheese.

Pour half the sauce over this layer.

Then repeat for a second layer but put cheese on top. Sprinkle with cracked pepper.

Hummm, this dish is piled pretty high. I decided to put a cookie sheet under it while it cooked. Note to self...use bigger dish next time. (See my notes below.)

Cover with foil or a lid and cook 40 minutes, then remove cover and cook about 30 minutes more. (See my notes below, I had to cook an extra 20 minutes!)

None of the contents spilled out! It looked amazing.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, plus extra for greasing dish
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pounds russet potatoes, washed thoroughly
• 3 cups diced cooked ham
• 2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese (or 2 cups Cheddar or 1 cup of each)
• Chopped fresh parsley, for decorating, optional

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Add butter and onions to a large skillet over medium heat and saute until starting to soften, 3 to 4 minutes.
• Sprinkle flour over the onions and whisk them together
• Continue cooking the onion/flour mixture until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in the half-and-half and milk and whisk around, allowing the mixture to thicken. This will take 3 to 4 minutes
• Add some pepper, stir the sauce, reduce heat and keep warm
• Slice potatoes really thin using a mandolin or a really sharp knife, the thinner the better.
• Generously butter a 2-quart baking dish.
• Add half the sliced potatoes and half the diced ham
• Sprinkle on half the cheese then pour on half the sauce from the skillet.
• Repeat with the rest of the ingredients, ending with a layer of cheese and sauce
• Sprinkle extra pepper on top.
• Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake until cheese is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling, an additional 20 to 30 minutes. (See my note below, I had to cook for about 20 minutes more!)
• Sprinkle with chopped parsley if desired and serve. (I didn't)

Notes:

• I used a 2 quart dish and it wasn't quite big enough. One a little bit bigger would work better.
• I had to cook about 20 minutes longer than the recipe called for to get the potatoes completely cooked.
• I'm thinking this might be good with some frozen green peas added.

Hope you enjoy this dish! Your comments are always welcome. ♥