Yukon Gold potato and Manchego cheese tart

I'm not really sure why this recipe is called a "tart." It's more like a slightly crispy version of Potatoes Au Gratin. All I can tell you is that it's simple to make and delicious to boot. I love the buttery and smooth flavor of the Yukon Gold and the Manchego is a perfect compliment to this dish; not too strong, not too mild. Even my daughter asked for more last night when she finished her first plateful. I think I've got a junior cheese junkie in the making. As is very often the case, I found a nice chunk of Manchego at my local Trader Joe's for less than $5 which covered the amount needed for the recipe and some left over. Manchego melts very nicely. It's a wonderful choice to add to quesadillas, potatoes dishes and omelets.

Let me give you a little background on Manchego:

Manchego (officially Queso Manchego) is a cheese made in the La Mancha region of Spain from the milk of sheep of the Manchega breed, which is aged for between 60 days and two years. Consider this cheese "The Don Quixote cheese."

Manchego has a firm and compact consistency and a buttery texture, and often contains small, unevenly-distributed air pockets. The colour of the cheese varies from white to ivory-yellow, and the inedible rind from yellow to brownish beige. The cheese has a distinctive flavour, well developed but not too strong, creamy with a slight piquancy, and leaves an aftertaste that is characteristic of sheep’s milk.

RECIPE:

* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 6 Yukon Gold potatoes
* 1 tbsp chopped parsley or oregano
* 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
* 1/2 cup freshly grated manchego cheese
* salt to taste
* freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof non-stick skillet over medium heat.
3. Peel the potatoes and cut them into very thin slices.
4. Layer half of the potatoes in overlapping slices to cover the bottom of the pan.
5. Sprinkle with the oregano or parsley, garlic, manchego cheese, salt and pepper (be careful not to sprinkle the cheese on the side of the pan, or it may stick).
6. Add the remaining potatoes in overlapping slices and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
7. Cover the skillet with foil and place it in the oven and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
8. Remove the skillet from the oven, remove the foil,carefully loosen the edges of the potatoes and turn the tart onto a plate or platter. (NOTE: at this point I sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top and put it under the broiler for a few minutes until brown and crispy.)
9. Cut the tart into wedges and serve.