HASSELBACK POTATOES

SERVES 6 / PREPARATION 20 MINUTES / COOKING 1 HOUR 15 MINUTES

Choose a long oval-shaped potato for the best result. You can add flavouring such as a grind of pepper, thin slivers of garlic, small pieces of bay leaf or sage leaves between a few of the potato slices if you fancy.

6 medium-sized floury/roasting or

all-purpose potatoes, scrubbed 50g butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

Cut each potato into thin slices that stop about 0.5–1cm before the base of the potato. There are several ways to do this, but I like to place a potato between two 6mm-thick boards, plates or wooden spoon handles, so my knife can’t slice all the way through.

Choose an ovenproof roasting dish or frying pan that fits the potatoes snugly (not tightly) and with sides that aren’t too high (3–5cm high is good).

Melt the butter and olive oil in the pan over the stove and stir in 1 teaspoon salt. Turn the potatoes in this to coat well, then arrange cut-face up. Pour in enough boiling water to reach about a quarter of the way up the potatoes.

Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting with the buttery water every 15 minutes. Add a little more water in the last 30 minutes if it evaporates.