Ok yes, this recipe could be seen as being a lot of effort, but a good savoury brunch is incomplete without a huge delicious hash brown. Plus this recipe is vegan so is suitable for all! Makes 2 big main event hash browns, or 4 side dish hash browns.

Ingredients

• White potatoes – 3 large (roughly 400g)
• Flour – 2 tbsp plain or self raising is fine
• Nutritional yeast (optional) – 2 tbsp
• Olive oil – 1 tbsp
• Mixed herbs – 1 tbsp
• Smoked paprika – 1 tbsp
• Salt and pepper

Recipe

Heat up the oven to 190’C. Using a box grater, grate your potatoes into a large bowl. When you get the end of the potato, you can always finely chop the end to save you grating your fingers!

Lay a dry, clean tea towel on a flat surface and tip the grated potato onto. Wrap the potato up and gather the tea towel at the top. You want to make a sort of “tea towel dumpling”. You need to be able to twist the top so the bottom with all the potato is surrounded and has no gaps. Take your “tea towel dumpling” over to the sink and then SQUEEZE. Keep squeezing and then twisting to tighten the towel around the potato. Repeat until you have released as much moisture from your potatoes as you can.

Place the drained potato back into the bowl. Now add the herbs, spices, seasoning and nutritional yeast if using. Make sure you add a generous amount of salt. Stir through with a fork to roughly evenly coat your grated potato.

Next add the flour and oil to your potato mix. Now time to get your hands dirty. It’s possible to do this bit with a fork/spoon but where is the fun in that?! Get your hands in a squish the flour, oil and potato mix together. Keep going until the oil and flour makes a paste the binds the grated potato together. You should be able to make a ball or patty that holds it shape. If the mixture is too dry or floury add a little more oil, and if it is too wet or oily add more flour and keep mixing. Once your hash brown mixture is the correct consistency – form either 2 or 4 patties.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Place you patties in the frying pan and if needed flatten them down a little with a spatula. Make sure the patties don’t stick to the pan but try not to move them around too much. Once they have been fried for 5/6 minutes on this side, flip them over using a spatula and do the same on the other side. If the patties are golden brown, that is perfect. If they are too pale you may need to flip them back over. If they are too brown, take the heat down a little. Remember we are not trying to fully cook them through here but get a nice crunchy golden outside.

When you are satisfied with the outside of your hash browns being crispy and golden, place them on a baking tray in the oven to cook through. This can take anywhere between 15 and 30 minutes depending on how thick you have made them.

While your hash browns are in the oven, you can make whatever you are having with your hash browns. I can definitely recommend avocado, grilled tomatoes and buttery fried mushrooms.

Your hash browns are ready to come out the oven when they are soft and spongy to touch. You could always cut them open to check that the potato is cooked all the way through – nobody wants raw potato!

Well done you! Now sit down and enjoy 🙂