Hasselback potato gratin

If you love roasted potatoes (and really, who doesn’t?), then you’ll love this Swedish take even more! A good tip is to use chopsticks as a guide to stop the potato rolling around and to stop the knife cutting all the way to the bottom of the potato. As they cook in the hot buttery oil, the potatoes fan out like accordions with those extra crispy edges, coated in cheesy bacon bits.

INGREDIENTS

4 large potatoes, scrubbed

50g butter, chilled and cut into slivers

olive oil, to drizzle

sea salt flakes, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

125ml thickened cream

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 bacon slice, cut into thin strips

50g parmesan, finely grated

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 220ºC.

Place each potato between two chopsticks and make cuts crossways, about 2 mm apart.

Insert the butter into the cuts on the potatoes randomly. Arrange the potatoes snugly in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes. Baste the potatoes with the melted butter every 10 minutes.

Carefully remove the dish from the oven. Pour the cream evenly over the potatoes and scatter over the garlic, bacon and parmesan.

Bake for a further 30 minutes, or until cooked through and golden brown. Serve immediately.

#billman #potato #gratin