Hasselback Potatoes (Swedish Roasted potatoes)

One night last week I was aimlessly wandering through my pantry thinking...whats for dinner? Although I'd planned ahead and was anticipating making meat loaf I wanted something a little more interesting than mashed potatoes for a side. I'd tossed around the idea of au gratin potatoes but that just seemed to heavy for a warm summers day. I decided on making hasselback potatoes. The Swedish name is said to be from the restaurant "Hasselbacken" in Stockholm, Sweden where they were originally served in the 1700's. Later in years other as other European countries began making them they were called accordion potatoes, I've also on occasion heard of them referred to as just "Swedish Roasted potatoes", regardless of whatever you choose call them they are a great potato dish thats a little more exciting than a baked potato but not near as rich as au gratin or smashers. 

In addition to roasting a few potatoes I hacked up a few summer squash and zucchini laid them under the potatoes, after I went about stuffing the potatoes and roasting them we enjoyed these quite a bit. The end result was buttery slightly crisped summer vegetables with perfectly roasted delicious potatoes. I've seen variations of these recipes with or without the crumb topping however, I think that its the crumbs that make the dish. Without them you simply have baked potatoes gone awry. Its just my take on it of course, I imagine they are delicious either way but I prefer them covered in buttery and slightly spicy  seasonings. 

Hasselback Potatoes:

Crumb topping-

1/4 cup melted butter 

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

*pinch of salt 

4-6 potatoes not overly large but not too small

extra virgin olive oil 

+Shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

To prepare potatoes wash and dry them. Using a sharp knife slice 1/8-1/4" slices into the potatoes leaving it attached at the bottom by about 1/4". Lightly drizzle about a teaspoon or two of oil into the bottom of a small baking dish, just big enough to hold the potatoes. In a bowl combine melted butte,r bread crumbs, garlic powder, and chili powder. Take the potatoes one by one and gently place a little bit of crumbs in between each slice. Be careful not to separate the slices (If you do just try to hold them together in the pan). Once you've stuffed each "accordion" pocket place the potato in your baking dish. 

Roast potatoes 30-45 minutes or until they are fork tender. During the last 10-15 minutes top with shredded cheese.