I know many people will have discussions over whether to have roast potatoes or mashed potatoes with a Christmas dinner. For me, it’s always roast potatoes. Mashed potatoes are delicious, but should be with your regular meals, not your Christmas dinners. At least, in my opinion.

These Hasselback Potatoes are a twist on the usual roasties, as you keep the whole potato together. The best way to plan for this is to aim for one potato per person, and then add a few extra for seconds.

For a vegetarian-friendly option, you can omit the pancetta/lardons. And for a vegan-friendly option, you can replace the butter with vegan-friendly butter or additional olive oil.

Ingredients

4 large baking potatoes, peeled
90 grams butter, melted
75 ml olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely sliced
100 grams pancetta cubes/lardons
thyme
paprika
sea salt
pepper

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.
2. Mix olive oil and melted butter in a small bowl. Brush a skillet with some of the mixture.
3. Using two wooden spoons, parallel to a potato, slice very thinly along the potato. The wooden spoons will stop you from going all the way through. Place the potatoes in the skillet as you finish each one. Wedge slices of onion in between some of the potato slices.
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brush with the rest of the butter mixture, then loosely cover with tin foil. Roast for thirty minutes, then remove the foil.
5. Remove the foil, baste with some of the butter and oil in the bottom of the skillet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme and paprika then place the potatoes back in the oven for a further 30 minutes.
6. While the potatoes are roasting, cook the pancetta in a frying pan for 5 – 10 minutes, until they start to crisp up. Remove the lardons from the pan with a wooden spoon, and pat down on some kitchen towel.
7. Remove the potatoes from the oven, sprinkle with the lardons. Baste more with the olive oil and butter. Sprinkle with the thyme and place back in the oven for a further 35 minutes.
8. Sprinkle with some further salt after removing from the oven and serve hot.