Little Cheesy Hasselback Potatoes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make Jamie Oliver's Essex Hasselback potatoes? ›

Carefully slice at just under ½cm intervals all the way along. Repeat with all the potatoes, placing them in a large roasting tray as you go. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, season with sea salt and black pepper, and roast for 1 hour, or until the potatoes are golden and tender. Remove and leave to cool.

Hasselbacking is a cooking method in which potatoes or other items are sliced not-quite-all-the-way through in thin, even layers, which can be stuffed or topped with additional flavorings. It's a way of creating more surface area for flavors and creating additional texture. As a technique, it's nothing new.

I don't recommend soaking the potatoes in water ahead of time for our potatoes au gratin (as some recipes call for). Soaking them will cause them to lose some of their starch, which helps to keep this dish creamy.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

Good popular choices include Maris Piper, Desiree and King Edward but availability varies with the time of year – as does size. For proper traditional roasties you only need to make sure you don't buy small waxy salad potatoes.

The RSVP International Hasselback Potato Guide is really the key to hassle-free Hasselback-ing. Once I wash my potato, I pierce it with the guide and use my knife and the guide's prongs to cut the potato, over and over again, going from right to left.

The name “Hasselback” comes from a restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden called “Hasselbacken,” where hasselback potatoes were first created in the 1940s. The cutting technique is now widely used to elevate not only spuds, but also chicken, ham, squash, Hasselback Apples – you name it!

Surprisingly, aluminum foil is his secret weapon. After beautifully shingling the potatoes (he's got a genius trick for doing this quickly, too) he covers the dish in foil before hitting the oven.

The starch in potatoes is held together by pectin. When that pectin breaks down too quickly in the boiling process, mushy potatoes result. Adding vinegar to the water fixes that problem because, as López-Alt explains, “pectin breaks down much more slowly in acidic environments.”

A great way to enliven potatoes which have been stored since last year's harvest. The milk gives them a creamier texture and a little more body and richness. Peel the potatoes and slice them into pieces at least 1cm thick. Put them into a saucepan and cover with the milk.

What oil does Jamie Oliver use for roast potatoes? ›

You want to use an oil with a mild flavour for your roasties. We prefer olive oil, but you can opt for vegetable, canola or grapeseed oils instead.

Drain in a colander and leave to steam dry for 2 minutes – this will help the fat to stick to the potatoes. Give the colander a few light shakes to chuff up the edges of the potatoes, giving you maximum surface area for a crispy exterior as they roast.

Do I have to boil potatoes before roasting? Not necessary but this can help get the perfect consistency and crispiness. Make sure you boil them but leave them a bit al dente and they will crisp up perfectly in the oven.

Gordon Ramsay's Smashed Potatoes are made with baby potatoes, olive oil, herbs like rosemary or thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper this dish serves 8 and takes about 1 hour, including boiling and roasting for a crispy exterior.