Venetian Potatoes

Ingredients

5 Large potatoes e.g Maris piper
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1) Wash the potatoes but leave the skins on.  Slice a very thin slice off the long side of each potato so they can sit upright in a roasting tin without  rolling over.

2) With the flat edge on a chopping board, carefully cut slices vertically down through the potato towards the chopping board but NOT right through, make slices every 1/4 cm so you end up with fan like cuts down the whole potato( these will open during cooking).

3) Put the potatoes, oil, salt and pepper in a bag and toss until potatoes are well coated.  Place them into a roasting tin with the slices upwards and roast for at least 1 hour or until they are brown and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

To Serve

Put the venetian potatoes into a warm bowl for people to help themselves. You can serve this as a table snack or to accompany roast meat or fish.

Chefs Tip: To prevent cutting all the way through the potatoes by accident, place a wooden spoon handle behind the potato as you cut the the knife can only cut down to the level of this and not as far as the chopping board.