HASSELBACK POTATOES

Potatoes are a staple at our house, where we celebrate its versatility by baking, roasting, whipping, and stewing. I'm always searching for new ways to prepare this starchy vegetable, so I was thrilled to discover hasselback potatoes while perusing through Food Gawker.

The accordion-like shape is such a zany and intriguing way to present potatoes. Moreover, the recipe is fairly  simple, the trickiest part is slicing the potatoes thinly until you almost cut through the potato, but not quite, so that all of the intervals remain intact. If you have a good tip for slicing hasselback potatoes, I'd love to know!

Similar to most potato dishes, this recipe lends itself to an array of herbs, spices, and flavored oils, so experimentation is encouraged.

HASSELBACK POTATOES
(adapted from Sea Salt with Food)

Ingredients

• 6 medium potatoes
  
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• sea salt
• black pepper
• garlic powder (optional)
  
• or 3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
• paprika (optional)
• parmesan cheese (optional) 
  

Method

1. Scrub the potatoes clean. Place the potato on the cutting board, flat side down. Start from one end of the potato, cut almost all the way through, at roughly 1/3-inch intervals.
2. Arrange the potatoes in a baking tray and if using, insert garlic slices, one per slit.   Drizzle olive oil into the potatoes, taking care that the oil trickles down the intervals, you may find it helpful to use a small pastry brush to evenly coat the oil over the potatoes. Sprinkle sea salt, black pepper, and if using, garlic powder, herbs and spices, such as paprika. If using cheese, sprinkle it 15 minutes before the potatoes are complete to prevent burning. 
   
3. Bake at 400°F for roughly 40 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is soft.

Serves 6