Pommes Anna, variations

There may be readers who doubt that I can do a recipe with only two ingredients.

They would be wrong.

Pommes Anna is a classic French dish that has only two ingredients: Potatoes, Butter.

It is truly wondrous what the French can do with only two ingredients.

The Pommes Anna are turned out of the baking dish, so try to choose a round dish. If it has a rounded bottom, like mine, even better. It should be at least 2/3’s full of potatoes.

A mandolin makes quick work of slicing the potatoes but is not necessary. Just slice them as thin as possible… paper thin.

Try to make the first layer as neat as you can as it will be the lovely, golden brown top when you unmold them

This serves 4 – because that was the size of my dish.

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Pommes Anna

Print Recipe

Yes, there is a lot of butter, but this serves 4 and it’s a ‘special occasion’ dish. We can all indulge occasionally. 

• Author: Katie Zeller
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 60 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Potatoes

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1/3 cup butter
• 4 medium potatoes, 24oz, 720gr, peeling optional 
• salt & pepper, optional – I use salted butter

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Instructions

• Clarify butter: Melt butter in a small pan over low heat just so that it is melted.
• You will notice the white milk solids in the butter. Using a small spoon skim off as much of the floating milk solids as you can.
• Then carefully pour the clear (mostly) butter into a glass measuring cup, leaving behind the remaining solids.
• Using a basting brush and some of the clarified butter, generously butter the inside of a round, glass baking dish. Mine is 8″ (20cm) in diameter.
• Slice the potatoes into paper thin slices, using a mandolin, box slicer, food processor, or a sharp knife.
• Line the bottom of the baking dish with a layer of potato, brush very lightly with butter.
• Add a layer of potato, brush with butter.
• Repeat until you have used all of the potatoes.
• If you use salt & pepper put a little on the middle and top layers.
• Cover with a lid or foil and bake in 400F (200C) oven for 60 minutes.
• Remove, and let rest for 5 – 10 minutes.
• Invert on to a large plate – it should retain it’s shape.
• Slice and serve..

Notes

I don’t bother peeling the potatoes but purists would be appalled.
Clarifying butter is a bit fussy but not at all difficult.

Keywords: potatoes, potatoes anna, pommes anna

The first variation I made using just sweet potatoes. While it was delicious, the layers didn’t maintain their integrity. It was more like baked mashed sweet potatoes… with lots of butter.

It was pretty, though….

The second variation used both sweet and white potatoes, alternating layers. That worked well.

The layers stayed layers.

Have some fun with your holiday menus.