Potato Galette

     Even though this potato cake has a fancy French name and looks beautiful, it actually requires only about the same amount of effort as mashed potatoes. When you slice into it, the layers of thinly sliced potatoes should stick together enough to look like a piece of pie. First, a few tips: 1. Use a mandoline slicer if you have one to get paper thin potatoes. If not, carefully try to slice them as thinly as possible by hand. 2. The starch in the potatoes should cause them to naturally stick together, but if you want to be extra sure, place something heavy like a ceramic plate on top while it bakes. Alternatively, and this probably goes against all the laws of potato galette, but I don't think it would hurt to put just a little bit of shredded swiss cheese in between the layers.

INGREDIENTS:
4 Russet potatoes
a few tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper
Yes, that's all.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 and spray an 8 inch tart pan with Pam. A regular round cake pan or even a pie plate will work too.
2. Wash and peel the potatoes.
3. Use a slicer or a really good knife to slice the potatoes as thinly as you can.

4. Working in circles, place 2 layers of potatoes in the bottom of the pan. On top of the second layer, add salt and pepper and brush with olive oil. If you want to add cheese, add it at the same time, after every 2 layers of potatoes.

5. Continue layering the potatoes and adding salt, pepper, and olive oil on top of every second one and on the last one. Be sure to save some of your most nicely shaped slices for the top layer.

6. Bake at 425 with something heavy on top for about 35 minutes. Then take the extra weight off and  broil on low for a couple more minutes to brown the top.

Enjoy! I plan to spend all day cooking tomorrow, so check back to see what I liked the best!