Potato. Butter. Potato. Butter. Potato. Butter. This classic side dish is an easy way to elevate the humble spud into a decadent cake of carbs. And fat. It ain’t healthy, but it’s damn tasty. Thinly sliced potatoes layered with lots of butter then roasted. You can add herbs for extra flavour. In the photos, I used lamb fat because I was serving the Pommes Anna with lamb neck. It’s just possible this l’il dishy will steal the show at your next dinner party. But “who the fuck is Anna”?

Ingredients

Serves 8-10.

1.5kg Maris Piper potatoes
150g clarified butter, or beef dripping, or other meat fat to suit the meat you’re serving
Olive oil
Salt and white pepper

Instructions

1. Line a deep tray with baking sheets to make turning out the Pommes Anna easier.

2. Wash and peel the potatoes. Do not put the peeled potatoes in water. This means you need to move quickly to prevent oxidation and discolouration once you’ve got them peeled.

3. Slice each potato on a mandolin, ideally. You’re looking for a thickness of 1 to 2mm.

4. Disgorge the potato slices. Place the sliced potatoes into a colander over a bowl and toss with a large pinch of salt. Make sure the salt is well distributed. Leave stand for 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, gently clarify the butter in a Bain Marie. Alternatively, for extra flavour, melt the butter in a pan and take it to beurre noisette. Pass it through a fine chinois to remove the solids.

6. DON’T rinse the potato slices. You’ve gone to this much trouble to remove moisture so why add it back? Dry the slices between sheets of kitchen roll.

7. Evenly spread one layer of potato slices in the lined baking tray then brush with butter. Repeat until you have 15 layers. Every 5 layers, lightly season with salt and white pepper. Remember, you’ve already salted the potatoes earlier so don’t go nuts.

8. Bake in the oven at 165C for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer goes easily through the potato layers. Remove the tray from oven.

9. Place a baking sheet over the Pommes Anna. Place a weight on top. Ideally you want to use something just slightly smaller than the baking tray to evenly distribute weight across as much of the surface of potato as possible. Leave to cool to room temperature then place in the fridge for 3 hours to set.

10. Remove the Pommes Anna from the baking tray and cut into portions.

11. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Fry the portions, top and bottom, until crispy and golden. Place in the oven at 140C until warmed through to serve.