CREAMY POTATO BAKE WITH PEPPADEWS

Homegrown delight

Peppadews give this delicious side dish some local flavour.

Ingredients

(serves 8-10 as a side dish)

1 kg medium-sized potatoes, thinly sliced

100 g smoked ham pieces (be on the lookout for off-cuts at your deli)

12 whole peppadews, stuffed with feta cheese and sliced

5 spring onions, sliced thinly

2 cups cream

½ cup finely grated parmesan

Here’s how

1 Parboil the potato slices for about 10 minutes in salted water. Drain carefully.

2 Arrange half of the potato slices, ham, peppadews and spring onions in layers in a pan that can go on the coals, or a flat-bottomed potjie. Season with salt and pepper in-between the layers and then pour over half of the cream. Then arrange the rest of the ingredients in layers on top, season again with salt and pepper, and carefully pour over the rest of the cream. Depending on how big the dish is, it may not be necessary to use all the cream, but in this case, creamy is delicious. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese over last and put a lid on. Foil also works if you don’t have a lid, but take care that the top layer of cheese doesn’t touch it.

3 Open a space for the pan or potjie in the open coals, place the dish and bake the potato dish for about one hour or until all the cream has soaked into the potatoes and the cheese has melted on top. You can place some coals on the lid for that last bit of browning. Regulate the heat during the cooking time by adding new coals occasionally so your masterpiece gets constant heat all around.

Drive & Camp says If you use long-life cream, do check it’s not sweetened.