Buffalo minced meat with baked potatoes

For the minced meat: In a large pan with a lid, sauté the onion and leek in olive oil, then add the Kerkini BORAS buffalo minced meat along with the chopped garlic.

With a fork, make sure to "break" it so that it is sautéed evenly. Add the thyme, salt and pepper. Once the minced meat has released its "liquids", add the tomato.

Let it come to a good boil for 5 minutes and then cook over medium heat with the lid closed for about 45 minutes.

Just before finishing cooking the buffalo minced meat, add the butter, milk and mozzarella in pieces and mix well until the sauce thickens.

Let the mixture cool.

For the potatoes: Peel the potatoes and place them in a large pot with cold water and salt. Once the water boils, cover the pot with its lid.

In total, we will need about 20 more minutes of boiling. We separate 2 large potatoes and remove them at 10 minutes (we will use them for "layering" in the pan).

Once the potatoes are cooked, transfer them to a large bowl and let them cool.

In a saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour, stirring with a wire whisk as in béchamel.

Once the mixture is well combined, add the beef broth (warm) and the cream (at room temperature).

Mix well and once the mixture becomes thick, remove from heat. Add the boiled potatoes after melting them with your hands and press them into the mixture until they melt well with a wire whisk or fork. Return the pot to medium heat and stir well so that the mixture becomes fluffy. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Placing on the baking tray: Choose a deep baking pan, preferably round. Grease the bottom and sides well. Cut the two potatoes that we peeled earlier into slices and line the bottom.

We take the potato mixture and spread it by hand on the bottom of the pan and on the sides, pressing it so that it sticks well. We carefully put the pan in the refrigerator for about an hour. Then we take it out and with a spoon we place the minced meat.

Add a little gruyere and then add the remaining potato mixture and spread it carefully to completely cover the minced meat. Spread the remaining slices on the surface and sprinkle with the remaining gruyere and some breadcrumbs. Add a few pieces of butter.

Baking: Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 20 minutes until the potatoes are nicely browned.

Serve after it has cooled a bit so you can cut it into portions. Sprinkle with a little fresh thyme.