National Potato Day is October 27^th, and I could celebrate it in so many ways. What a versatile food – potatoes can be baked, fried, boiled, roasted, grilled or sautéed. You can use them in casseroles, soups, stews, hashes, chowders, salads, etc. Some of my favorite potato dishes include potato chips, baked potatoes, stuffed potatoes, hash browns, potato skins, potato pancakes, gnocchi, tater tots, potato salad, mashed potatoes with gravy, scalloped potatoes, French fries – the list goes on and on and on!

I decided to make scalloped potatoes with onions and three cheeses to celebrate National Potato Day. As usual, sharp cheddar and Parmesan cheese were part of the dish, but this time I also added some Asiago cheese to give it some zing. Brad called these scalloped potatoes decadent and I definitely agreed – they were rich, creamy and cheesy – the perfect comfort food!

Ingredients (Serves 6-8)

• 4-5 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced thin (about 2 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons butter, divided
• ½ medium-sized sweet onion, sliced thin
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pint heavy cream, divided in half
• 2 ¼ cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• ¼ cup Asiago cheese, grated
• 1 teaspoon smoked Spanish hot paprika, divided in half (I use Savory’s)
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes, divided in half
• Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• ½ grated Parmesan cheese (you can also use Parmesan/Reggiano)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.** Spray a 1½ quart (or larger) casserole dish with cooking spray.

Layer half of the potatoes in the bottom of the dish and dot with half of the butter.

Place all of the onion slices and minced garlic on top of the potato slices, and then pour half of the cream on top of that.

Mix the cheddar and Asiago cheeses together and place half of it on the potatoes. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of parsley, salt and pepper to taste on top of the cheese.

Layer the rest of the potatoes on top of the cheese.

Add the rest of the cream, cheese, paprika and parsley. Add more salt and pepper if desired.

Bake for 30 minutes and then sprinkle the grated Parmesan on top.

Bake for another 30 minutes or so, until the potatoes are tender and the cheese is bubbly. I like to broil this for a couple of minutes so the top gets nicely browned.

Let sit a few minutes before serving.

**Note: I started this recipe in my new Ninja® 3-in-1 Cooking System (watch for an upcoming blog about it soon) because I have been so pleased with other recipes I’ve made in it so far. This was the first time I used the oven mode, which is for steam-infused roasting and baking. Luckily, it occurred to me after about 15 minutes (and rereading the Ninja instructions) that I did not want steam-infused baking for these scalloped potatoes. I transferred them to a regular casserole dish and continued cooking in the regular oven. They still came out great – just not as pretty.

Bon appétit!

Eat, drink and be merry!