This clever recipe that I first read about on Jill Dupleix’ site has been renamed “Splats” by my friend Jenise. It’s a recipe for smashed baked potatoes – dead easy and quite cathartic, both in the smashing and the eating. You’re supposed to use small potatoes, but I had a glut of Bintjes and King Edwards left over from the gourmet potato tasting that needed to be cooked, so that’s what I used.
Scrub the potatoes, prick the skins, then place them in a pyrex casserole dish. Leave the smaller ones whole, and cut any really big ones in half. Microwave the spuds until firm but cooked through. Preheat the oven to maximum – in my oven, that’s 250C.
Place the potatoes on a parchment-lined tray, skin side up, then splat them with a potato masher so that they’re broken, but not falling apart.
Drizzle over the top of each potato with extra virgin olive oil, then sprinkle over a generous amount of salt and a pinch of Italian herbs.
Reduce the oven to 220C (so that you don’t burn the parchment paper), then bake the potatoes for 20 – 25 minutes until golden brown and crispy. Enjoy!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
They look yummy! I will definitely try them when the weather cools down here. Have you ever tried hasselback potatoes? Fiddly to make but worth doing once just to see – I think in Sweden you can even buy a gadget to make it easier to slice the potatoes without slicing them through.
Thanks for the credit! I love how the process of twice-cooking results in such an incredibly crunchy and durable crispiness. And I do peel back the skin a bit to expose the innards for even more crunchiness. Funny that you blogged about them today–I bought some potatoes earlier to do just this way for tonight’s dinner!
Jenise – credit where it’s due, love. I should have said, “my friend Jenise’s husband Bob called them splats”, but it was getting too hard to explain.. :)
Jo, I’ve never tried making potatoes like that before, but they look really interesting. Thank you for the headsup! One recipe I read suggested putting a chopstick on either side of the potato, to stop you chopping the whole way through. Hmm…I have 5kg of Atherton sebagoes – might give these a try this weekend..
Celia
I have been craving these since they resurfaced over at WineLovers kitchen…I think I will make them tonight.
Pete’s just asked me to make him some more as well, Barb. :)
I’m cooking them tonight as well…..!
Cool, Tracey! Alex has just emailed me to say she’s making them as well. Now I’ll have to cook them again tomorrow night – Pete’s sick of me talking about how everyone else is making them! :)
Hope all is well in your part of the state and with your gorgeous men…
Celia xx
I made these last night, for my fussy kids, who refuse to eat the skins and half the flesh of perfect baked potatoes…..except i whacked mine with a rolling pin….
Note…do not let over zealous fussy offspring assist in the splatting process. You potatoes will not just end up splated..more sort of obliterated.
Still. Into the oven they went. Half an hour later> clean plates and requests for more. RESULT!
GREAT result! Glad they loved them, thanks for the feedback, Emma! :)
Celia
Can’t wait to try this recipe. Quick and easy and just the recipe I need while I am so busy with gardening! Thanks for sharing!
I made this recipe and featured it on my blog tonight. The potatoes were a huge hit with myself and my husband. Another recipe added to our family favorites…thanks again for sharing!
Cindy, thanks for trying this! We absolutely love splats – the boys will often ask for them specifically.
[…] potato obsession began back in June when I first tried Celia’s recipe for Potato Splats. It was a recipe I had discovered posted on her blog Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. The splats […]
I am for sure going to try this Celia, looks absolutely awesome and I am salivating at 7.30am!!! Big hugs xxx
[…] writes at one of my favourite sites: Fig Jam & Lime Cordial, where the potatoes were named ‘Splats’ by one of her friends. She credits the recipe to Jill Dupleix who calls them Crash-Hot […]