Helen is one of our seasoned ASMY cooks and demonstrated this at our May Open Day. Here is the promised recipe for those who attended!
1kg floury potatoes
- 400gr mushrooms – Portobello have the best flavour, but any mature brown mushrooms are OK
- ¼ brown or white onion
- 1 teaspoon fresh Thyme or Dill
- ½ cup plain flour (besan/chickpea flour for a gluten free option)
- Bay leaves – 2-3 depending on size
- Salt to taste
- Olive oil
Boil the potatoes with the bay leaves until soft.
Discard the bay leaves and mash very thoroughly seasoning with salt and white pepper
Set aside to cool
Finely chop the onion
Separately finely chop the mushrooms
Heat the pan with the olive oil and fry the onions until translucent
Add the mushrooms
Strip the leaves from the Thyme or Dill and add to the mushrooms
Fry the mushrooms until all the liquid evaporates
Add salt to taste
Take off the heat to cool until you can comfortably handle the mix
Wipe the pan out and put it back on a low heat with a little oil ready to fry off the cakes as you make them
Add the flour and salt to the mashed potato and knead until it resembles a dough.
Divide the mix into two
Take a small handful of the potato mix from one piece of dough and press it out into a disc
Make a well in the middle of the disc and fill it with a little of the mushroom mix – use a teaspoon for this as you don’t want mushroom pieces on the outside of the cake
Make another disc of potato from the second piece of dough and place it over the top
Repeat until you have used up all the potato mix
Turn up the heat on the pan
As you pick up each potato cake seal the edges and place in the pan
You will need to leave them first side down for a few minutes to develop a nice crust before turning over.