Potato gâteau

Ingredients

For a 20 × 20 cm baking dish

• 500 g yellow-fleshed potatoes
• 100 g fior di latte (mozzarella)
• 50 g cooked ham (or turkey breast)
• 2 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano DOP (24 months)
• 2 eggs
• extra-virgin olive oil (as needed)
• black pepper (as needed)
• fine salt (as needed)

For the dish and topping

• extra-virgin olive oil (as needed)
• 20 g breadcrumbs
• 30 g Parmigiano Reggiano DOP

Method

1. Boil the potatoes in plenty of cold water for 30–40 minutes, until tender.
2. Drain and peel while still hot.
3. Mash immediately to avoid lumps.
4. Dice the mozzarella and let it drain in a colander for about 1 hour.
5. Dice the ham into about 1 cm cubes.
6. To the mashed potatoes, add eggs, pepper, salt, a drizzle of olive oil, and grated Parmigiano.
7. Layer in the baking dish: potatoes, then mozzarella and ham, then potatoes again.
8. Oil a 20 × 20 cm baking dish and dust evenly with breadcrumbs.
9. Spoon in the mixture and level.
10. Top with breadcrumbs and Parmigiano, then drizzle with a little olive oil.
11. Bake in a preheated static oven at 180 °C for about 30 minutes, placing the dish as high as possible in the oven.
12. For the last 5 minutes, switch to grill.

Notes

• Don’t prep the mixture too far in advance before baking to avoid discoloration.
• You can customize with different cured meats and cheeses.
• Instead of layering, you can also mix potatoes, mozzarella, and cured meats together and bake as one mixture.