Love Dish: Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

I meant to show you a picture of these beautiful scalloped potatoes we had recently, all hot/bubbly/cheesy out of the oven and unbelievably comforting. Honestly I did. But we, um, ate them all before I remembered to take a 'final' shot. So instead, I leave you with this semi-artsy pic I took pre potato-high, and recommend you simply make them and see the hot bubbly goodness for yourself. Enjoy!

Scalloped Potatoes with Ham

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups whole milk

3/4 cups mild shredded cheddar cheese

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 1/2 lbs potatoes,* sliced thin (about 1/8 inch)

1/2 onion, diced

1 lb diced ham

Preheat oven to 375.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour to the butter (creating a roux), and whisk to dissolve the flour and cook it through. After a few minutes of whisking, add the milk, thyme, salt and pepper. Increase the heat to medium high and cook, whisking often, until the mixture just begins to boil and the sauce gets thick. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheese.

In a large and shallow sprayed/buttered casserole dish, spread a few spoonfuls of the sauce. Layer a third of the potatoes on the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle them with a third of the ham and the onions, then a third of the sauce. Repeat two more times - potatoes, ham/onions, and sauce, then cover and bake for an hour, or until the potatoes are tender.

*I've used just about every kind of potato for this (red potatoes, Idaho potatoes, fingerlings, new, peeled, not peeled) and they've all worked great, so just use whatever you've got.

Note: make sure you use a shallow dish; otherwise your potatoes will take hours to cook through.