A Potato Side Dish That Doesn't Require an Oven | America's Test Kitchen

-Potatoes and leeks are a classic combination found in any number of recipes, but today, Ashley has promised to show me something new.

-I promise I will. Now, this is one of those really comforting, ultra rich side dishes. -Mmm. -It's going to be sort of like a potato gratin with leeks in there, but we're actually not going to use the oven at all.

-Okay, so it's all stove top. -All stove top. -Very cool. -So first, let's start with some leeks. Nothing goes better with potatoes than leeks.

They get super, super tender, almost grassy in flavor. They're just a great ingredient to pair with potatoes.

-Yeah. -So I'm going to start by trimming off the root end of this leek. Now this is going to be 2 pounds total.

-Okay. -And I'm just going to be using the whites and the light green parts today, but I'm just going to go ahead -- Any time I use just that part of the leek, I always put the darker part in a zipper lock bag, and you can keep it in your freezer when you make stock or anything in the future.

-Very cool. -Yeah. So I'm going to cut this in half, lengthwise first. And then I'm going to cut the leeks into 3/4 inch pieces.

Now, I haven't washed the leeks yet. -Yeah. Good. -I'm going to be doing that in the salad spinner.

And that's because leeks, as they grow, they grow concentrically. So as they come up, some dirt can get trapped in between the layers of the leaves.

-Boy, does it get trapped. -Yeah. Alright. So I'm going to go to the sink. I'm going to wash the leeks. -Okay.

-Yeah, you'd be surprised how much dirt actually does hang on to some of these leeks. So it's a good idea to use a salad spinner if you have it.

Alright. So now I'm going to be toasting some panko first. I've got 1/2 cup of panko, which is the Japanese breadcrumbs.