Hassleback potatoes with bay

Recipe: Hassleback potatoes with bay leaves

It was a friend who turned me on to using bay leaves with chicken, before that I had only relegated them to stews and casseroles. She gave me a few Turkish leaves and told me they were good stuffed under the breast skin of a whole roast chicken. They were, the flavour floral and herbal at the same time. I've been hooked ever since and have recently discovered how great they are with potatoes too. 

10 medium sized potatoes

15 bay leaves, dried or fresh

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400oF and lay the potatoes on a cutting board. Make slits into the potatoes, almost down to the bottom but not cutting through. Make each slit about 1 cm apart. Place 1 or 2 bay leaves into each potato, using the slits to hold them and drizzle well with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for about 45 minutes to one hour until they are cooked and highly fragrant. Remove the bay leaves before eating.