Fall Feast Potato: Aligot

We had never even heard of aligot before. Then one day, we were watching America's Test Kitchen (ATK) and they were making aligot and boy, did it sound delicious. Aligot is a dish from Southern France in which potatoes are mixed with cheese to produce a smooth, almost stretchy consistency. Sounds weird, but, it's potatoes and cheese...how can it be bad?

Since we have TiVo, we paused and re-wound and fast-forwarded through this particular episode of ATK until we were sure we had the recipe down. Then we decided to make them as the potato dish for our Fall Feast. Elizabeth, our 4-year-old niece, said they were "Cheesy!" and "Yummy!" Indeed, they were. And not too difficult to make. We loved them, but be forewarned...they are quite rich.

Here's the "recipe" we came up with, based on the show, to which we offer all credits.

Ingredients:

2-3 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes

1 tablespoon salt

water to cover and boil potatoes

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

salt to taste

1 cup whole milk

1 cup shredded gruyere cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Peel the potatoes and cut them in 1/2-inch slices. Place them in a large pot with a tablespoon of salt. Add water to cover the potatoes over an inch. Bring to a boil and cook for fifteen minutes. Drain the water. Put the potatoes in a food processor with the minced garlic, salt to taste and the butter. Pulse a few times, add the milk, and pulse until smooth. Return the mixture to your pot and turn heat to medium. Slowly add the cheeses, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon while doing so, over a period of 3-5 minutes, until stretchy consistency is reached. Serve hot.