Quick and Easy Bacon Topped Hasselback Potatoes

After reading this instructable on baked potatoes, I realised just how much I, like the author, really appreciate crispy potatoes! And it reminded me of a dish I had not made in a while - hasselback potatoes. These are like the baked potato's fancy-pants cousin, though they are actually barely any more effort to make. They just take a long time to bake, usually. I wondered if I could make them quicker and easier with a microwave. I could! Here is the result.

These potatoes are kind of like baked potatoes stepped up a gear! Lovely and crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy inside, oozing with cheese and topped with crispy bacon (which you can omit if you don't eat it). Like any recipe, you can tweak and customise it to your heart's content! My version is just your starting point...

Here is my ingredient list - feel free to play with quantities and ingredients :-) Per person you will need:

• One baking potato
• A little oil or melted butter
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 30-40 grams grated cheese of your choice (I used mature cheddar)
• 1 x spring onion (scallion)
• around 10g leftover bacon (or cooked fresh, if leftover bacon isn't a thing in your house)

The equipment:

• Pastry brush
• microwave
• oven - conventional or halogen
• sharp knife
• crockery etc

The first thing you have to do to your potatoes is the thing that makes them hasselback!

Slice each potato into slices as finely as you can, but only about three quarters of the way through. This can be a little tricky, but try not to cut all the way through the potato if you can help it. I find it easiest to make the first few cuts at each end first, as these are tricky once the rest of the potato is sliced.

Brush a little oil or melted butter all over each potato. Then microwave on high setting - the length of time will be determined by the number of potatoes and how powerful your microwave is:

• One potato: 4-6mins
• Two: 5-8 mins
• Three: 8-10 mins
• Four: 10-12 mins

I have never been able to fit more than four into the microwave in one go!

At the end of the microwave time, the potatoes will be cooked, but not very crispy or tasty yet! Brush again with butter and oil and transfer to an oven at 220C - we used a halogen oven but a conventional one will do just as well. Cooking time will vary depending on oven, but bake until the potatoes are just starting to crisp at the edges.

While the potatoes are baking, slice the spring onions (scallions) and bacon.

Once the potatoes are just starting to brown at the edge of the slices, it is time to load them up! Season with salt and pepper to taste. Then push most of the cheese and spring onions (scallions) between the slices, reserving a little to serve. Place back into the oven and bake until the potato skins are crispy and the cheese melted and golden. In our halogen oven this took around fifteen minutes.

Once ready, take the potatoes from the oven. Load up with bacon, any reserved cheese and spring onions (scallions) and any other goodies that you fancy! These go well with so many dishes, but at this time of year they are great with salad. I hope you enjoy them!