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5 from 2 votes

Potato leek casserole with ground meat

This simple, crowd pleaser and forgiving potato leek casserole with ground pork is flavorful. Made with potatoes, leek, ground meat, heavy cream, onion, garlic and grated cheese in 1 h 30 min.
Prep Time30 minutes
Bake Time @ 180 °C (356 °F)1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: European, German
Keyword: casserole, Comfort food, crowd pleaser, dinner party, gluten free, how to, potato leek gratin, potluck
Servings: 8 Servings
Author: Ester | esterkocht.com

Equipment

  • Sauté pan or large pot
  • Cutting board
  • Knife
  • Aluminium foil
  • Wooden spoon
  • Casserole dish (23 x 35 cm (9 x 1 3 inch))
  • vegetable peeler

Ingredients

  • 1,2 kg (2 2/3 lbs) potatoes
  • 400 g (14 oz) ground pork
  • 400 g (14 oz) leek 1 large leek or 3 small leeks
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1/2 tablespoon ground paprika
  • 200 g (7 oz/ about ¾ cup) heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 150 g (1/3 lbs) grated cheese
  • salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

Instructions

  • Begin by peeling potatoes, soak them in water and set aside. Peel and mince garlic and onion. Then clean and slice leek. Heat olive oil in a large pan or pot over medium heat and fry onions and garlic for about 3 minutes. Add minced meat and cook until nicely brown. Add leek, mix well and let cook for 3 minutes. Stir in heavy cream, water and paprika powder. Bring to a boil, season with salt, pepper and ground nutmeg and remove from heat.
    Drain the potatoes and cut them into thin slices.
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C (356 °F), with both top and bottom heat.
    Start with the sauce and end with the meat - leek sauce. Spread a thin layer of meat-leek sauce in a casserole dish. Arrange potato slices on top and season lightly with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Spread the sauce, followed by potatoes and then the sauce again until the sauce and all the potato slices have been used up. Cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until the cheese is nicely golden brown.

Notes

  1. You can substitute ground pork with ground beef, a mixture of pork and beef or ground lamb.
  2. Always season potato layers with salt, pepper and nutmeg, before adding the meat-leek sauce layer.
  3. I've used grated emmental cheese, but you can use any grated cheese of your choice.
  4. Feel free to boil the potatoes for few minutes (while making the sauce) to reduce the baking time.