Baked Hasselback Potatoes with Garlic and Thyme

The flavorful Hasselback potatoes made in this recipe are a great vegan and gluten-free side dish option. It got its name in honor of the Swedish restaurant where it began to be prepared in the middle of the last century, and in Russian it is often called simply accordion potato. Despite the fact that potatoes look intricate, the technology for preparing them is quite simple. It is necessary to make several cuts across the potato without cutting through it. Then generously brush with butter and bake in the oven until golden brown. To make this dish vegan, use quality olive oil instead of butter, and add garlic and thyme to make it as flavorful as butter. The result is an incredibly tasty dish that also looks very impressive.

Potato recipe:

You will need:
Products (for 4 servings):

• 8 approximately equal medium-sized red-skinned potatoes (you can use new potatoes)
  
• 3 tbsp. l. olive oil,
  
• 5 cloves of garlic,
  
• 2 sprigs of thyme,
  
• half tsp sea ​​salt (and one extra tbsp.for peeling potatoes if you are using new potatoes),
  
• one fourth tsp. pepper
  

Dishes:

• Paring knife.
  
• Sharp chef's knife.
  
• Cutting board.
  
• Big spoon.
  
• Roll of paper towels.
  
• Parchment paper.
  
• Tray.
  

Abbreviations:
tsp = teaspoon.
Art. l. = tablespoon.

Preheat the oven and peel the potatoes

Preheat oven to 220°C.

Wash the potatoes and dry them. Sprinkle with coarse salt and let sit for 5 minutes.
After 5 minutes, scrape the skin using a paring knife. Wash the potatoes again and pat dry on paper towels.

Cut the potatoes

The potatoes should open up like a fan when baking; to do this, you need to make cuts without cutting through the potato. To make this easier on yourself, use a large spoon and a roll of paper towels.
Place one potato on a spoon. Place the handle of the spoon on the roll of towels. If the cutting board slips, place a wet paper towel under the spoon.
Using a sharp knife, cut the potatoes into thin slices (about 3 mm thick). The edges of the spoon will not allow you to cut through the potato all the way.
Wash the potatoes again and dry with towels.

Prepare the thyme and garlic

Wash the thyme sprigs and dry. Instead of thyme, you can use spices that you like: rosemary, basil or tarragon. Remove leaves from branches.
Peel the garlic cloves. Slice them into very thin slices.

Add spices to potatoes

Place about 5 cloves of garlic and 5 thyme leaves in each potato, placing them between the potato slices. If you like garlic, you can put a clove of garlic in each cut.

Drizzle olive oil over potatoes

Take a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.Place the potatoes on a baking sheet.
Drizzle with good olive oil (you will need about 3 tbsp). Brush the inside of the potatoes with oil.
Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bake and serve

Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake the potatoes until golden brown, 50 to 60 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. You can check readiness by piercing the middle of the potato with a knife: it should become soft.
Serve hot with ketchup, garlic sauce or avocado sauce.
Original article in English