Truffle Gratin

Paul is one of those poor people whose birthday falls close to Christmas. It's pretty easy to miss it in all the kerfuffle (which frankly I think would be his preferred option) but I do try to make him something pretty special for dinner. And this truffle gratin certainly counts as pretty special. Before you get all intimidated by the notion, it's pretty much just a basic potato dish/scalloped potatoes/casserole potatoes (depending on where you are from) lifted with some minced black truffle. You don't need a lot of truffle, so it isn't ridiculously expensive either.

Truffle Gratin (serves 2 or 3)

3 potatoes

150ml sour cream

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 heaped teaspoon minced black truffles (I use these ones, from Amazon)

Salt, pepper & nutmeg

Grated cheese

Beat together the sour cream and truffles and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Peel and thinly slice your spuds. Place a layer in an oven-proof casserole dish, then scatter with some slices of garlic and sprinkle on a scant spoonful of the sour cream mixture. Repeat until you run out of potato, then pour over the rest of the sour cream mixture.

Bake in a 180C oven for about an hour, covering with foil if it looks like it is getting too dark. About 15 minutes before the end, sprinkle on a thick layer of grated cheese (this was a mix of cheddar and mozzarella, but whatever you like) and return to the oven until the cheese is melted and golden brown and the potatoes are tender all the way through.

We had it with steak and some form of green veg which I couldn't quite identify. It was leafy and I sauteed it and finished it with some lemon juice.