2023 update: Nearly twelve years after I initially posted this recipe for vegan boulangère potatoes with beer and marmite, I'm rejigging it ever so slightly for clarity. I haven't changed the recipe much, other than to adjust the quantities of beer and marmite and to grease the baking vessel with lots of butter. It's not your typical boulangère potatoes recipe; it probably lies somewhere between boulangère and au gratin.
One aspect of life in England I haven't and will likely never grow accustomed to is winter. While I've never been able to put my finger on exactly what it is I loathe so much about these months on this landmass, I know I dread them with an intensity bordering on hysteria.
But then I remember I live in a country with seventy or eighty varieties of commercially available potatoes. That's opposed to the, if you're lucky, five you'd find in an average American supermarket. My family still doesn't believe me when I explain the half aisle in the grocery store dedicated to just potatoes.
What does this have to do with winter? Comfort food. And potatoes are the epitome of that statement because, well, potatoes. This year has not been good on me and so I am already loathing this winter with a depth greater than any I've known in previous years, but potatoes. Potatoes fix the world.
Boulangère potatoes are a gratin of thinly sliced onion and potato layers cooked slowly in stock, the less rich (but still packing a flavoursome punch) sibling of potatoes dauphinoise (which is made with lots of heavy cream).
The inspiration for this vegan potato recipe came to me after I realised it had been at least 6 hours since my last potato, and days since beer.
Anyhow, I've got to pop to the shop – I'm out of potatoes.
📖 Recipe
Cheesy vegan boulangère potatoes with marmite and beer
Ingredients
- Vegan butter for greasing
- 600 grams potatoes see notes
- 170 grams thinly sliced onion about 1 medium onion
- 220 millilitres beer ⅔ + ¼ cup
- 1 tablespoon Marmite
- rounded ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 150 grams grated vegan cheddar style cheese e.g. Violife Cheddarton, Cathedral City plant based Cheddar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (160 fan). Generously grease the bottoms and sides of a casserole dish, cast iron skillet, or other baking vessel. Arrange a layer of potato slices, slightly overlapping so there are few gaps, until all of the space is filled in. Follow with a layer of sliced onion (don't worry about gaps with the onion layers). Repeat with another layer of potato and onion, followed by a final layer of potatoes. In total there should be five layers, but this may differ depending on the size of your dish. The final layer must be overlapping potatoes.
- Whisk the beer, Marmite, and salt together in a saucepan over medium heat until the Marmite is fully dissolved. Pour the liquid evenly over the layered potatoes and onions. Drizzle the oil evenly over the top of the lot, cover with foil, and pop it in the oven for 45 minutes.
- Take the potatoes out of the oven and carefully remove the foil. Sprinkle grated vegan cheese evenly over the dish and return it to the oven, uncovered. Bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until the cheese melts and begins to bubble and brown.
Notes