Becky’s Cheesy Potatoes

(serves at least 8, but more with oth­er side dish­es on offer, for exam­ple at Thanks­giv­ing or Christmas)

3 lbs/1 ½ kilos pota­toes (Maris Piper here in Eng­land is a good choice, or a Yukon Gold in the US)
3 round shal­lots or 1 banana shal­lot, minced
1 lb/453g grat­ed or shred­ded Ched­dar or Dou­ble Glouces­ter cheese
1 tsp gar­lic powder
sea salt and pepper
3 cups/700g light/single cream

Boil pota­toes until eas­i­ly pierced with a fork, then peel when cool. Grate them on a coarse grater and set aside.

Ligh­ly oil or non­stick spray a deep glass or pot­tery casse­role dish, per­haps 9 inch­es in diam­e­ter and 5 inch­es or so high (mine is round, which is an appeal­ing shape). Scat­ter a lay­er of grat­ed pota­toes on the bot­tom, then cov­er with a lay­er of cheese, a sprin­kling of shal­lot, a sprin­kle of gar­lic pow­der, and sea­son well. Repeat lay­er­ing until you have run out of ingre­di­ents, end­ing with cheese. Then pour the cream over the casserole.

Bake at 180C, 350F until bub­bly and the cheese begins to brown, about 45 min­utes, depend­ing on the depth of the casserole.