Ingrid van den Arend

Side dish, serves 4. Preparation time approx. 12 minutes (plus 1 hour in the oven).

• 4 large or 8 medium-sized, firm potatoes
• approx. 40 grams of very thinly-sliced ham
• 50-75 grams of Kernhem cheese (a soft-ripened, washed-rind cheese like Appenzeller)
• 4 sprigs of parsley
• olive oil (not extra virgin)
• coarse sea salt
• extra: apple corer, aluminium foil

Scrub the potatoes under cold running water. With the apple corer make a tunnel through the length of the potato, from one end to the other. Cut off the tips at each end of the removed piece of potato so you have 2 ‘caps’. You’ll need these to close off the potato again.
Cut the cheese into little squares that will fit into the tunnel. Close off one end of each potato with a cap. Fill the potato tunnel alternately with a piece of ham, a piece of cheese, a bit of parsley, a piece of ham, a piece of cheese, parsley, etc. Fill the other potatoes in the same way. Close the potato tunnels with the remaining caps.
Place the prepared potatoes in an oven dish. Sprinkle with olive oil. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Cover with aluminium foil and bake in the oven for 45 to 60 minutes (depending on the size of the potato). Check with a kebab fork.

Tip: You can vary the filling endlessly. Anything you like will be delicious. Don’t cut open the potatoes before serving! The surprise is revealed on people’s plates. Peek-a-boo!

Ingrid van den Arend