Potato Gratin with Thyme & Tomato: Improvising from Pinterest

I ate like a queen today, thanks to the many recipes on Pinterest. I dont need to tell you how obsessed I am with pinning. Every girl worth her salt has got to be a pin-head by now. The original recipe can be found HERE but I made some changes. The original recipie is creamier and more decatant. My recipie is a little bit healthy and rustic


Ingrdients:
1.) 3-4 large white potatoes (unpealed)
2.) 1 cup of shredded cheese
(I used unpasteurized cheddar cheese which tastes nothing like store baught cheese and I'm not exactly sure what a comparable cheese would be. I say any white, sharp tasting cheese is fine. No mozzarella.)
3.) 1/3 cup of Parmesan
4.) 2 teaspoons of Thyme
5.) Vegitable oil (I used coconut oil)
6.) 1 large tomato (gutted and thinly sliced)
7.) 1 cup of chicken broth
8.) 1 cup whole milk
(Again I used unpasteurized milk instead of cream. You might need half and half because pasteurized milk doesn't have enough fats to substitute cream.)
9.) 2 teaspoon of Panko (or breadcrumbs)

Directions:
Preheat the oven (350 degrees). You'll need to slice the potatoes as thinly as possible. Line your baking pan with two thin layers. Brush over this with oil and sprinkle this with pepper, salt, a few pinches of thyme, as well as two teaspoons of white cheddar and parmesan.(This isn't going to be a cheesy dish). Start the next layer and do exactly the same thing. Place the thinly sliced tomatoes on top of the cheese on this layer. Layer another two rows of potatoes, cheese, thyme, etc. Exactly as before.Sprinkle the top layer with Panko.

Combine the milk and broth together separately then pour this over the the potatoes evenly.

Cover with foil and bake for 40-50mins. Uncover and bake for another 40 minutes until the top looks nice and golden.

This is an amazing rustic dish. The thyme and potatoes go together perfectly, and it's not heavy with cream and cheese. Just the perfect amount of potatoes, herbs, and cheddar and the cooked tomato in the middle layer just takes it to another level.