[Sorry – no photo]

Using up: elderly spuds, some cream

Scrubbed potatoes (we never bother with peeling) and sliced very thinly.  There was a bit less than we hoped for because one spud had gone over, unfortunately.

Washed one leek – a handy tip from Jamie Oliver is to slice the leek in half lengthwise from the core, then run it under the tap; gets all the mud out easily.  Sliced it up fairly small.

Greased an ovenproof dish – I use a sunflower oil spray for this, Layered in half the potato slices, sloshed in some double cream, seasoned.  Added leeks, sprinkled on grated gruyere cheese.  Layered on the rest of the potato, more cream, more seasoning, more gruyere.

I always start this kind of thing in the microwave for 5 minutes – it cuts about 20 minutes off the total cooking time.  Then into the oven on gas 5 for about 30 minutes.  Put it on a tray, because it might ooze a bit.

You can substitute all sorts for this – chicken stock instead of cream, spinach or courgette or whatever instead of leeks, breadcrumbs on the top.  Excellent standby for using up stuff – I’ve even put leftover chicken in the middle sometimes.