Nigel Slater's hasselback potatoes, baked cheese and ham recipe
A hot and crispy, salty and satisfying easy meal
Easy does it: Nigel Slater's hasselback potatoes recipe. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin/Observer
The recipe
Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Peel two medium-sized baking potatoes, cut in half lengthways and place them cut-side down on a chopping board.
Using a kitchen knife, make thin slices across each potato, but only cutting three quarters of the way down, so the pieces of potato are still joined at the base. You will now see why the other name for these is "toast-rack" potatoes.
Transfer the potatoes to a roasting tin, pour over a little oil and melted butter or a spoonful or two of goose fat, then roast for approximately an hour until softly tender inside and crisp and golden outside.
Place a whole Tunworth or Camembert (about 250g) on a piece of kitchen foil, (slightly raised and scrunched up around its sides to catch any leaks of molten cheese) then bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is liquid inside.
Place the cheese in the centre of a serving board, surrounded by air-dried hams such as speck (about 150g) thinly sliced, and some gherkins or cornichons. Tuck the potatoes around the edge, and serve. Enough for two.
The trick
Use a sharp kitchen knife with a very thin blade and slice down carefully and gently, so you don't cut through to the chopping board. You want the slices to remain attached at the base. Baste the potatoes three or four times as they cook with the fat or butter and oil in the pan.
The twist
Tuck slices of garlic and sprigs of thyme into the surface of the cheese before it goes in the oven. They will gently flavour it as it melts.