HASSLE FREE HASSELBACKS

Hasselback potatoes have been on the food scene for a while now yet I hadn't tried them up until this weekend. I thought that they looked a lot of hassle so didn't really see the point in them but that was until I tried some. Imagine the love child of a jacket potato with the potato topping of a hot pot and you can imagine what you're dealing with. Crispy little slices of potato all held together on a soft buttery potato base. Season them with dried herbs and chili flakes and you have a really easy way to pimp up your Sunday roast.

You can use any size potato to make hasselbacks but I have gone for medium sized potatoes that are smaller than a jacket potato but bigger than a new potato. If you use spuds that are either bigger or smaller then make sure that you adjust the baking time accordingly. A good strong potato like a Maris Piper is perfect for the job but you can use other varieties if you prefer but again just keep an eye on them during baking. 

All you really need to decide then is what herbs and spices to sprinkle over the top of taters whilst they bake. Here, I've used a mixture of dried oregano and chili flakes for a bit of herby heat but you can use whatever you like really. Rosemary and sage if your serving them with lamb perhaps or maybe even some curry powder for a more Indian feel. Whatever you decide to go with make sure you have 1 tbsp of your combination which should be more than enough to go round. 

You need to have the butter in order to make those potatoes crispy on the top and then soft and delicious in the centre. The garlic is optional but I find it works really well and is a simple way to add more flavor to your spuds.

Grab a baking tray, a wooden spoon (all will be revealed later) and be prepared for some potato poetry. The recipe below will make six medium taters which you can dish out to as many people as you like but you can scale the recipe up and down easily to accommodate more or less hungry dinner guests.

Hassleback Potatoes

2 Heaped Tbsp Of Butter

2 Grated Cloves Of Garlic

6 Medium Potatoes

1/2 Tbsp Dried Oregano

1/2 Tbsp Dried Chili Flakes

A Good Glug Of Vegetable Oil

1. Begin by turning your oven on to 200 degrees (180 fan) and then place 1 tbsp of butter and the garlic in a pan on the hob. Heat slowly until the butter has melted and then remove from the heat to allow the garlic flavor to infuse into the butter.
2. Take your potatoes and one by one place them onto the wooden spoon. The head of the spoon should have a groove in it so you can slice through the potato whilst the edges of the spoon's groove should prevent you from slicing all the way through. Cut slices through each potato like this with roughly 2mm gaps between each slice. You can do this without a spoon but be very careful not to chop the potatoes in half (or chop your fingers off!). 
3. Brush the garlic butter all over the potatoes, getting as much between the gaps in between the slices as you can and then sprinkle over the oregano and chili flakes whilst getting as much in between the slices again.
4. Now pour enough oil into a deep sided baking tray to just cover the base of the tray and add in the remaining tbsp of butter. Place this in the oven for 5 minutes until the butter has melted and then carefully remove the tray from the oven and pop in the potatoes. 
5. Spoon over some of the hot butter to moisten the tops of the potatoes and then pop them in the oven to bake for 50-60 minutes, removing them every 20 minutes or so to spoon over more of the oil and butter.

The potatoes are ready when the tops look brown and crisp and the insides are soft when poked with a knife. You might find that the tops burn a little bit and you can cover the potatoes with foil halfway through baking to stop this however I think the burnt crispy bits add to the charm of a hassleback. They are everything you could possibly like about a baked potato. Soft buttery insides flavored with those delicious herbs and spices with the most crispy skin you could every have on a potato. Most importantly that look super pretty but by following my recipe above you'll soon discover there is no hassle in making these hasslebacks whatsoever!