Potato Bread / Farls

The opportunity of cheap potatoes offered by every supermarket to go along with Christmas dinner provided the perfect excuse to play around with a few potato bread recipes. I bought three large bags of potatoes to perfect our recipe, with the intention of mass production and freezing for consumption through to next Christmas.

Between Christmas and New Year, we tried a few different recipes.

We had some miserable failures and one absolute winner — though the amount of butter required for what will become a staple for our weekend fry-ups is quite worrying.

Here is the recipe that we settled on. As mentioned, it still needs a little more work. I’ve got two large bags of potatoes left and have now created room in the freezer for the stash of farls.

Ingredients

• 450 g cooked mashed potato (warm is ideal, and if you can use a potato ricer, all the better)

• 60 g butter

• 1 tsp salt

• 120 g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting

Instructions

1. Combine the warm mashed potato, butter, and salt in a bowl and mash until smooth.

2. Gradually add the flour, mixing well until a soft dough forms.

3. Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into rectangles or squares, about 5 mm thick.

4. Cook on a dry griddle or frying pan over medium heat for 5–6 minutes on each side, until a nice crust forms.

5. Cool on a wire rack and toast or fry later.