Sweet Onion Potatoes au Gratin

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Show: 30 Minute Meals
Episode: A Little Bit Country

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 large or 2 medium sweet onions, such as Vidalia, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
2 pounds baby Yukon gold potatoes or fingerling potatoes
1/2-2/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1/2 pound brick Gruyère or Swiss cheese, shredded

Preparation

Step 1

Heat a small skillet with the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and season with salt, the ground thyme and bay leaf and cook until very soft and sweet and lightly caramelized, 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and discard the bay leaf.

While the onions cook, put the potatoes in a medium size pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then salt the water and cook until tender, 12-15 minutes. Drain and return the potatoes to the hot pot. Mash the potatoes with the cream and Parmigiano Reggiano and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pre-heat the broiler.

Arrange the mashed potatoes in individual gratin dishes or one shallow casserole dish. Top the potatoes with the onions and Gruyère cheese. Place the dish(es) on a sheet pan and brown under a hot broiler until bubbly, about 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve hot.
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REVIEWS:

Loved This recipe. I made this last night with BBQ Ribs and it was to die for. I didn't have any milk, but I had heavy cream, so I used that and it was of course rich and yummy!

So easy to make and so delicious! Will use this time amd time again!

These were amazing. Had these as a side to grilled lobster.

Excellent recipe. It was a huge hit. Very flavorfull and the onion was an exceptional addition. I skipped the heavy cream and used 1% milk and it was still tasty and rich.

This is one of my favorite sides during the holidays. I can't wait to make it for Thanksgiiving!! Thanks Rachel Ray!!

Rachael you nailed it again!! A girl after my own heart when it comes to cheese. The pairing of the parmesan-reg and guyere were awesome!!! And the onions made it oh so yummy. Love it love it love it!! And I love you too!! Thanks for sharing all of your wonderful ideas with your fans!!! You are the best!!!!!!!

I didn't have any swiss or gruyere cheese so I used sharp provolone. This was delicious. It was so good my husband who came home late and decided to take it to lunch the next day couldn't stop spooning some everytime he went into the kitchen. I think the onions are what made this go over the top. Good recipe Rachael and thanks again!!

I made this for my father-in-laws dinner last night. They were DELICIOUS!!!!. I wanted something different instead of just regular potatoes and these were a hit. I did the same thing another viewer did I was transporting these so I made the potatoes right before we left and kept the cheese and onions separate till we got to where we were going and then put the onions and cheese on top and broiled. THEY WERE SO DELICIOUS!! I can't wait to make again. Definitely a winner. Very easy and fast to make. You gotta try.

I was interested in trying this recipe because of the mashing part. I've failed so MANY times with the layered slice kind of au gratin because my sauce always breaks for some reason. Between my adult daughter and my husband quickly going back for seconds I barely got a tiny taste! The onions really make the dish. So very nice!

This would work great for pot lucks, could easily be doubled and baked in a 9 x 13 pan. I used fresh thyme but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. Didn't peel potatoes and didn't worry about mashing really small. Rachael calls it smashing doesn't she?

This recipe is smashing!

These were so tasty and have been requested to replace our usual mashed potatoes on a regular basis! Next time I'll probably add more onions and use warmed cream when mashing.

Very good, rich and filling!

AMAZING!!! My children usually don't like any sort of potatoes but they ate these right up! Very tasty! Thanks Rachael!

I made this dish, but left out the onions. Hubby gave me an "excellent" rating. I'll definitely make again and again

I made these for supper and we loved it. My husband is not a mashed potato guy much but he really enjoyed these. Nice change from plain ole mashed potatoes.

Very tasty!! I made this for our family Christmas dinner last night.....received a compliment on it before I could even sit down and try it myself. I used 1/2 and 1/2 and fresh thyme. The recipe didn't state to peel the potatoes, but I felt it was best to do so for this recipe. Thanks Rachael!

Made this for dinner today and we rally enjoyed it. I changed things up a bit, used peeled Russet potatoes, and riced them rather than mash, used Jarlsberg instead of Gruyere, and added toasted pine nuts to the mix. saving this one to make again at Christmas for the family dinner.

Really good side dish. I made it for Thanksgiving because our hostess was deep frying the turkey so there would be no gravy for regular mashed potatoes. Everyone loved it. Since I had to transport it, I was reluctant to add the cheese to the potatoes, then reheat later. In the past I've ended up with gummy potatoes in situations like this. So, I made mashed potatoes (used 1/2 and 1/2 with some nonfat milk instead of whole cream, left out the cheese, grated all cheeses so they were ready to go, caramelized the onions, and transported everything cold. I reheated the potatoes on the stove top, added a little more milk to get the right consistency, then added cheese, topped with onions and more cheese and broiled. It turned out perfect! The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because I think it would be unnecessarily fattening if made with cream. Make it - your crowd will love it.

Loved it! We think the Yukon gold potatoes were partly responsible, and instead of cream, we used sour cream. Stole that idea from our traditional thanksgiving mashed potato casserole. We'll make it with these sweet onions again!

I made this last year for Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit- everybody loved it. Instead of making the potatoes mashed, i scalloped them- and I added both Gruyere and Swiss cheese- so all 3 cheese and it was the best. This time around, I will add Blue Cheese as well- and see how it comes out..

Oh this was soooooo delicious....the 2nd time I made it I added just a hint of garlic to the onions....

This didn't come out as good as I hoped but I think it was probably my fault. I had some time to kill before the rest of my meal was done so I put the potatoes in the oven on bake instead of broil and left them in there for around 20 minutes. The cheese on top ended up browned and crispy instead of melted and bubbly. It still tasted pretty good but the burnt cheese on top that still looked shredded wasn't too attractive. I think I may try it again following the broiling instructions.

Made this for my son & daughter-in-law's anniversary. It was a great hit!

I am always looking for new gluten-free recipies and this one was such a major hit. The onions and cheese on top of the potatoes were outrageously delicious. The only comment I have is that my stove does not carmalize onions in 20 minutes, it took 45, but it was worth the extra wait. Everyone in our family LOVED the potatoes and wants me to make them again. I also substituted milk for the cream and used less butter to make it a little healthier. Not a dish I would make every day, but delicious.

That was my wife's comment - "these potatoes are to die for" - and she doesn't like mashed potatoes! Wow. So good. Ok - maybe not so healthy with all that cheese. Just eat a smaller portion. But so comforting and filling and tasty. I didn't think of french onion soup, but maybe my proportions of onions to potatoes to cheese were off. I used the amount of swiss cheese recommended but everything else was something of a guess. No matter - we'll be doing these again - and again.

This recipe is delicious! I made it for dinner tonight. It was easy and so good. I will make it again and again!

I liked this recipe. I must confess, I tweaked it a bit to cater to my family's tastes. The yukon gold potatoes are the perfect potato for this; yellow, creamy and flavorful. The changes I made were adding a little beef broth seasoning to the carmelized onions, which were carmelized in bacon fat. That gave them a rich brown color as well as a little beef flavor. Instead of using guyere or swiss, I used provolone, and after browning it under the brioler, it was topped with French's fried onions. The crunch added something special :o

This was super easy to make and tasted just like french onion soup!!! I would highly recommend it! Gruyere is expensive. Swap out for another swiss cheese or asiago and parm maybe. It was delicious though!

Made this and it was a major hit!!! I substituted mozarella and provolone. Other than that followed the recipe. WAs sooooo gooood!!!!

I thought my family would love this, but we just thought it was OK. It needs more seasoning and the gruyere was expensive. I will try it again with either swiss or cheddar cheese. The onions, however were great!

Made this for supper last night. It was very simple to make, and had a nice "rustic" look and taste to it. My husband and son both loved it. I think next time I will add a teaspoon or so of brown sugar to the onions to make them a bit sweeter as I do when I carmelize onions for other recipes. Went well with steak and the Neely's garlic green beans. Definitely will make again.

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