Patate Cinque Formaggio, Prosciutto, Cipolla, Crema, Aglio e Mandorla alla Nicola

That would be Nick’s Five-cheese Scalloped Potatoes with Prosciutto, Onions, Cream and Garlic and Parmesan-Almond Crust. This is a dish of creamy goodness that goes well with red meat, chicken or marsh turtle — well, just about anything.


Needless to say, do not skimp on the fat. Do not use low-fat anything or you’ll make me come over there.

Ingredients
5-6 medium russet potatoes (new potatoes are too waxy and don’t have enough starch to give this recipe its creamy taste), peeled and in cold water
1 medium white or red onion, sliced thinly
5-10 medium cloves garlic, chopped finely
10-15 very thin slices prosciutto
3/4 cup crème fraîche, or 1/2 cup crème fraîche mixed with 1/3 cup 2% milk
1 cup each grated aged Dutch Gouda, aged Asiago, aged Cheddar and a good Gruyère
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup ground almonds
Parsley
Freshly-ground black pepper

Method
The best way to slice the potatoes is with a mandoline. I like to give them a ripple cut; it’s easy if you have a good mandoline (the tip of my middle finger does not agree with that statement, however).

If not, have all the ingredients at hand. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the bread-crumb-almond mixture: bread crumbs, parmesan, ground almonds and some finely chopped or dried parsley and some ground pepper.

Mix the chopped garlic with the four cheeses and some black pepper and parsley and combine thoroughly.

Grease the bottom of a 14 x 10 Pyrex baking dish or some similar-sized baking dish with butter.

Start cutting the potatoes or use the mandoline. Each slice should ideally be about 1/5 of an inch thick, or about 4 millimeters. Smaller or larger is not important, but try to keep them uniform.

As you finish the first potato, lay down each slice in the bottom of the baking dish so that they’re all slightly overlapping until you’ve covered the bottom of the baking pan. Lay on top three or so slices of the prosciutto. Depending on how many slices you have, be sparse or go wild.

Sprinkle a handful or so of onions on top, distributing evenly. Add some of the cheese mixture and distribute evenly. Drizzle about 1/4 cup of the cream over the potato-cheese-onion mixture.


Repeat the previous steps exactly in another layer. Depending on how many potatoes and/or cheese you have left, repeat until depleted, but you want to end up with the top layer completely covered by potatoes. If there is no more prosciutto, skip it; ditto for the onions. It’s best if you end up with a layer of the four cheeses on top of the potatoes.


Now sprinkle the top of the potatoes/cheese with the parmesan-bread crumb mixture in an even layer until gone.

Lower oven to 350 and bake one hour uncovered, checking frequently that the bread crumb topping is not getting too brown. Cover with a top or aluminum foil and bake another hour, checking from time to time. The parmesan-breadcrumb top should be a fairly deep brown; now carefully broil the top on 500 degrees, uncovered, for about three or four minutes, making sure not to burn.

Let cool slightly and serve. Reheats in microwave like a charm.

Note: if the potatoes are still underdone at this point, cover, increase heat to 450 and bake 30 - 60 minutes more. It will be worth it!