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 