Pommes Anna
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 servings
- 5½ to 7pounds russet or all-purpose white potatoes, as needed
- ¾cup clarified butter, melted
- Fine sea salt, as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper, as needed
- 2 to 4garlic cloves, sliced paper-thin on a mandoline (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
556 calories; 26 grams fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 76 grams carbohydrates; 12 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 1165 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place a rack in the middle and set a rimmed baking sheet on top of it.
- Step 2
Trim potatoes into cylinders, peeling any skin left after trimming. Using a mandoline or sharp knife, slice into ⅛-inch slices and blot dry with paper towels. You should have about 8½ cups.
- Step 3
In a heavy 10-inch cast-iron skillet, heat 3 tablespoons clarified butter over medium heat. When hot, carefully place 1 potato slice in the middle, then quickly place more slices around it, overlapping them clockwise to make a ring. Place a second ring to surround the first, going counterclockwise. Continue to the edge of the pan, alternating the direction in which the potato rings overlap. Sprinkle with a generous ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste, then drizzle with another 2 tablespoons butter.
- Step 4
Create second layer of potatoes, just as you did the first. Dot a third of the garlic slices, if using, on top of this layer of potatoes. Season with salt and pepper; drizzle with butter.
- Step 5
Continue layering potatoes, garlic, butter and salt until everything is used, making a dome of potatoes in the middle (they will sink as they cook). Occasionally shake skillet gently to ensure potatoes aren’t sticking. When finished, there should be enough butter that it can be seen bubbling up the sides of the skillet.
- Step 6
Butter the bottom of a 9-inch pan and one side of a piece of foil. Push the pan down firmly on top of the potatoes to press them. Remove pan, then cover potatoes with the foil, buttered side down. Cover the foil with a lid. Set skillet on the baking sheet in oven and bake for 20 minutes.
- Step 7
Remove skillet from oven, uncover and remove foil, and again press potatoes down firmly with the 9-inch pan. (Rebutter bottom of pan, if necessary, before you press down.) Return to oven and bake uncovered, until potatoes are tender and the sides are dark brown when lifted away from skillet, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Step 8
Once more, remove skillet from oven and press potatoes down firmly with pan. Tip the skillet away from you to drain off the excess butter into a bowl (this can be reused for cooking), using the lid to keep the potatoes in place. Run a thin spatula around edge and bottom of skillet to loosen any slices stuck to the pan. Carefully turn out the potatoes onto a serving platter.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
David M
Prepared the potatoes as described. They were wonderful and rich, given all that butter! But that was the French way back in the Belle Epoque. One thing that I noticed was how the chef threw away all the excess outer potatoes. I decided to boil the refuse and in olive oil, have them as home fries on Sunday morning. I was transported from a Manet bistrot to a Hopper diner in less than 24 hours.
Bobbe Nunes
Please be extra careful using the mandolin cutter without any finger protection! Simply a very dangerous tool for the inexperienced cook!
Janet
After my daughter took off most of the skin on her knuckles zesting a lemon; I bought a knife proof glove from Williams and Sonoma. I've used it a lot with the mandolin and sometimes when my knives are exceptionally sharp.
Terry Neal
This was a wonderful addition to a 4th of July al fresco dinner. I cooked in an iron skillet, placing another slightly smaller iron skillet on the top, pressing down on the potatoes to set the mold, and then placed both into the oven for 45 minutes on 350. During the cooking, I filled the top skillet with water. Wonderful!
Craig Sawczuk
Great recipe and yes, easy. I mostly use russets, but tried with reds once. Too mushy, but hey, it's starch, butter and salt, so it was still good. As far as cutting goes, I cheat and use a 2mm blade on my food processor. It takes seconds and it is totally safe.
eliztr
I had excellent results sparing the extra buttered pan and just pressing a clean pan down onto the foil :)
Gregg McKee
Really good, and not as difficult as Melissa would have you expect. Took about +/- 1 1/2 hours. Used Russett potatoes. Will certainly make again. It's a keeper.
jjl
Less garlic. Add rosemary. Careful not to burn bottom. 3 potatoes are enough to feed 6 or more. Don’t need to peel or make cylinders. Maybe broil at end to crisp top. Sheet pan may help prevent over cooking of bottom?
Jeannie
I don't have a mandoline but got lovely slices with a good sharp knife. I only used about 2 lbs. of russet spuds with 3 Tbl. ghee in a well-seasoned cast iron pan. My potatoes were delicious and beautiful.
Stan Lewiecki
I have not used this recipe yet. I plan to. I’ve made these for years on my stovetop with Jill Child’s recipe from her 1989, “How to Cook”.
B
Taste your clarified butter, as nearly all salted butter brands are very salty. I use unsalted butter and then can moderate the overall seasoning.
Karen
I didn’t bother cutting the potatoes into cylinders (peeled as I would for mashed potatoes) and had some irregular slices (both in thickness and diameter). The end product looked and tasted great.
jmack
Woo hoo! Came out perfect - what to do on very snowy Pi Day
Marguerite
I never bother with clarifying butter. I just use ghee. Also, just layer potatoes in a skillet, brush each layer with butter (ghee), salt and pepper. Gat it started on the stove top, the place in hot oven with a buttered piece of foil and another heavy pan on top. No garlic!
Jacqueline Kafka
This recipe is for potatoes or pommes de terre (French). Pommes is apples in French.
Celine
But this is what the dish is called. Pommes Anna. Julia Child and Jacques Pépin, the whole world calls this potato cake: Pommes Anna.
Franey
Ok, this is the best potato I had in my life. Not super easy to prepare, I followed each single step and it turned out just perfect. Is not, for sure, an everyday thing, but it makes such an impression on friends and family.
C from Colorado
I think of this dish as potato lasagna. The layering is what makes me think that. Potatoes, salt, garlic, butter and repeat. I don't pour the butter, but brush it on. It takes a bit more time, but the results are worth it. I've made the Titanic version of this for years.
polly
Followed recipe. It’s very good! However next time I will use half the butter. For me it was overkill. And greasy. I blotted it with paper towels which helped. I’d also eliminate the garlic. It detracted from the potato taste for me. But the potatoes were wonderfully crunchy on the bottom which becomes the top when it’s flipped. I use the plate technique.
PMK
Worked perfectly with ghee and Kennebec potatoes of many odd shapes. Loved the garlic. It was salty and creamy and crunchy.
hj
I don’t have a mandoline nor proper training, the first problem, the slices were too thick and lacked the paper thin quality that would come from using such a tool. The second issue being that upon turning it over, it all fell apart! I thought I would be in trouble, but the crunch of the potato was super tasty with arugula. I’d like to do it right. So training on a mandoline and maybe there wasn’t enough cb? It was also thick? I bought before and it was already in liquid form. Ghee/shrug thanks!
Chris J
A nice, thicker version of the recipe. Looks like it would be good. My version based on the recipe from David Tanis book 'One Good Dish', uses a single potato (peeled) along with only about 2T of melted butter, salt and pepper. Layering is done similarly, briefly fried in the skillet, then put into the oven at 400F for about 15 minutes. Small amount of butter, a single potato; plenty for two people. This seems like a version of the Spanish Tortilla de Patatas without the eggs.
Alicia
Even though I buttered the bottom of the pan, it stuck to the potatoes and ruined the “top”. How can I avoid this next time?
Chris J
More butter on the bottom! Lower your temperature in the oven, perhaps, to about 350. Keep an eye on it. My version said 20 minutes but long cooking experience has dictated checking results short of estimated time. If the potatoes were cut too thinly, that could be a problem. Try for about 1/16".
Alicia
Wonderful potatoes! Great as a side dish for breakfast to share with others. Used Ghee... I found mine was underdone in the bottom layers, will bake longer next time!
Karen
I didn’t bother cutting the potatoes into cylinders (peeled as I would for mashed potatoes) and had some irregular slices (both in thickness and diameter). The end product looked and tasted great.
jim harvie
Can add rosemary and/or parmesan
R. Craton
Made with prime rib for a dinner party, so it was competing with the roast for oven time and my guests for attention. Had trouble arranging potatoes in an attractive pattern in hot pan. Forgot the lid over the foil during the first bake. They didn’t unmold properly. Was able to get the crusty bottom off in one piece and place atop potatoes but it wouldn't slice into neat wedges. Delicious, but it was a bit of a letdown because it didn't look the way I'd hoped.
diggydangy
Used a mixture of "Idaho Potatoes" and "Red Potatoes" according to my bodega. Used around 3.5 pounds, and it worked with my cast iron. In an effort to not waste any of the potato, I didn't peel or cylinder them. I used the ends as the middle of the cake. It ended up fine, but I wish I had used a mandoline to slice them -- I have a feeling some of my slices were too thick, and that it hindered some adhesion. Is it sacrilege to eat this with a side of sour cream?
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