Late yesterday morning I was hungry and was in the mood for something tasty and different, something that I could cook. I received a Crock-Pot slow cooker recipe book not long ago, and decided it was time to crack it open. I gave my Crock-Pot a cleaning and flipped through the recipes, only to stop in awe at the picture of the Rustic Potatoes au Gratin in the side dishes section. I’m a sucker for anything potato, and since I had planned on making steak for dinner, I figured the potatoes would pair with it perfectly. It was a chilly, snowy day out, and this dish seemed warm, flavorful, and comforting.

As you can see in the ingredients list above, I needed 1/2 cup of milk, one can of cheddar cheese soup (10 3/4 ounces), one package (eight ounces) of cream cheese, one clove of garlic, minced, 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, 1/ teaspoon black pepper, two pounds of baking potatoes cut into 1/4-inch slices (the recipe book shows three, I went with four, which worked out fine), one small onion, thinly sliced, and paprika, which is optional.

Then comes the fun part! Cooking, or, what it really is: throwing it all into the Crock-Pot. So first I got to washing, peeling, and chopping. I cleaned my potatoes in warm water, peeled them, and cut them into about 1/4-inch slices. Then I minced my clove of garlic, and chopped up my onion (the onion I had was rather large, so I used about half of it). When that was done, I heated the 1/2 cup of milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it started bubbling, which took about five minutes. From there I added the soup, cream cheese, garlic, nutmeg, and pepper, and stirred it all up until it was smooth.

Next comes the building of your masterpiece. Take about 1/4 of your potato slices, and lay them out in the Crock-Pot. Then take 1/4 of your onion and spread it over the potatoes.  Top with 1/4 of the soup mix, and continue this layering process until everything’s in the pot.

Place the lid on top and cook on low for six and a half to seven hours, or until the potatoes are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Once cooked, sprinkle the Rustic Potatoes au Gratin with paprika (this is optional, but it added a little kick).

And the final step is to enjoy! I found this side dish to be filling, so hopefully you have leftovers to continue the deliciousness the following day!