Not roasties, not hasselbacks, but stacked potatoes … crisp on the top, soft in the middle, they look sensational and the flavours will knock your socks off.
We ate these with lamb raan but they’re a good way to spice up any meal, whether it’s a Sunday roast or a veggie feast. Unless you have the knife skills of a Samurai sword master, though, it really helps to have a mandoline.
I was cooking for eight … scale back accordingly if you’re cooking for smaller numbers, but keep the punchy flavours and don’t skimp on the oil.
Spiced Stacked Potatoes
Ingredients:
About 2 kg potatoes, roughly the same size
2 tbsp chilli paste (I used Korean gochujang)
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
The zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 heaped tspn black mustard seeds
1 heaped tspn ground cumin
1 heaped tspn garam masala
1/2 – 1 tspn salt, to taste
50ml olive oil (plus a splash more if needed)
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6.
Peel the potatoes and slice thinly (about 0.25 cm) on a mandoline, dropping the slices into a large bowl of cold water as you go. Once they’re all done, dry very thoroughly between two clean tea towels. If you don’t get them dry enough, they’ll leach moisture into the cooking dish and steam rather than roast.
In another large bowl, whisk the chilli paste, spices, lemon zest and juice, salt and oil. Tip the potato slices into the bowl and mix – it’s easiest to get your hands in there – until every slice is coated.
Take a baking dish of approximately 30cm x 20cm and stack the potatoes in rows the length of the dish, packing them in quite tightly so they stay upright.
Drizzle over any of the chilli mixture left in the bowl and roast in the oven for 70-90 minutes, or until soft to the tip of a knife.
Check halfway through and if they look too dry, drizzle with a little more oil.
This looks awesome…I can’t wait to try it!!
Thanks, hope you enjoy it.
great idea… I tried something very similar first (of course), after seeing Ratatouille (the movie) and I was hooked… thanks for reminding us…one question: if I wanted to go for a plainer version: do u think a mix of oil and melted butter would be enough? (maybe some cheese towards the end)
+ is it really essential to drop the spuds in water? I mean, if one works fast ecc… yes, there might be some discolouring but then one could thus avoid the drying step, which is important, as u say.
In summer I make sth similar with pots and tomatoes and a garlicky oil (and then.. talking about stacking: the wonderful aubergine fans in Richard Olney’s Simpre French Food)….
… if anyone interested: there are also nice variations on this theme on Chef steps, a sweet one with apples is particularly good. thanks Linda
ciao, stef
Hi Stefano, yes, a plain version would work fine, you’d just need to make sure the butter didn’t burn. The water step is to de-starch the potatoes a bit, which I think helps them to crisp, but not essential. I don’t de-starch when I make dauphinoise, for instance. Love the sound of Richard Olney’s aubergine dish, I’m off to look it up. And I haven’t seen the apple version, do you have a link please? Thanks, Linda xxx
grazie + check this
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/get-creative-with-pixar-style-ratatouille
of course it is not real stacking, but same principles
Mmm, yes, looks good.
Yes. My kinda recipe.
Thank you, Margaret. Ours, too!
That looks fantastic. I think I might need to make those this weekend (and I bet the flat will smell great too!)
Thank you, lovely, I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. xxx
sounds delicious! cheers sherry
Thanks, Sherry!
Wow Linda, your potato dish looks amazing, saved for a cooler day…
Thanks so much, Sandra. Glad you like it. Lx
Perfect. Just perfect.
Aw, thanks, Michelle. A big compliment. Lx
Linda, I’ve done my share of Hasselback and stacked potatoes, but never with your spice profile. I really like your Korean meets curry thing, a must cook. Thanks for sharing.
My pleasure, Ron, I’m pleased you like it. I used gochujang but you could use any chilli paste whose flavours you like … I’d have used harissa if I hadn’t had this handy. Lx
Beautiful. They would really make a leg of lamb sing.
Linda, these are a triumph. I fed our guests a homely chicken-and-squash-and lemon-y sort of dish last night, to ward off the weather. And these potatatoes. A winning combination. I think the spuds won on points. x
Well, that makes my day, thank you Margaret! It’s always lovely when people make a dish and report back. I’m so pleased you enjoyed them. Lx