The Italian Potato Gateau

The ultimate party food: the potato gateau!! A dish that can be prepared well in advance and served either cold or warmed-up. A filling dish ... which leaves little space for anything else and help in saving in other dishes. But, most importantly, I dish I loved and craved for since I am a kid. There are various ways of making it and I am sure that each family has its own version in my country. I propose the recipe I got from my mum ... well, almost since (as usual) I changed something ... just some ingredient proportion.

Serves: 5 as a main course or 10+ as a starter
FlexiPoints: 10.5 or 5

Suggested wine: That's a dish I can't pair very well ... or better it should go with almost any wine.

Ingredients:
- 800g potatoes
- 60g butter
- 40g grated parmesan cheese
- 40g grated pecorino cheese
- 100g of roasted ham in one thick slice
- 2 free-range eggs
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- 200g mozzarella cheese
- 50g smoked cheese or gruviere
- Salt, butter, pepper and bread-crumbs as needed

How-to:
1. Boil the potatoes in their until cooked. Peel and mash them. Work the mash with the butter and parsley till uniform. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool down.
2. Chop the ham slice. Slice the mozzarella and the smoked cheese (or gruviere).
3. Work the eggs, ham and grated cheeses in the mix.
4. Grease an oven tin or a ceramic oven-dish with some butter and dust it with bread-crumbs. Make on layers with half of the potato mash. Distribute the sliced cheeses on top and cover with the remaining mash.
5. Dust the top with more bread-crumbs. Season with little EVOO and bake at 180C for about 40’.