These scrumptious little potato cakes are good enough to enjoy as a starter or light meal with just a crisp salad on the side. They also make a great accompaniment to sausages or a piece of fish. This is a good way to use up leftover potato, but it’s also worth baking some jacket spuds and leaving them to cool just so you can do this.
Makes 6
500g cold cooked potatoes
100g mature Cheddar
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
Sunflower, rapeseed or olive oil for frying
3 tablespoons plain flour
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put the potatoes into a bowl and mash roughly with a fork – keep it a little bit chunky rather than make a smooth mash. Cut the cheese into very small cubes, about 4–5mm. Stir these into the potato with the thyme and some salt and pepper.
Heat a thin layer of oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Scatter the flour on a plate. Take small handfuls of the potato mixture and shape into balls, then flatten slightly to form 6 small cakes, about 2cm deep. Dip them in the flour and turn to coat lightly on both sides.
Place the potato cakes in the hot frying pan and cook them for 8–10 minutes until golden brown on both sides, turning them carefully once or twice. Don’t worry if some of the cheese starts to ooze out as it melts – just encourage it back into the potato cake with a spatula.
Transfer the potato cakes to warm plates, sprinkle with a touch more salt, and serve.
PLUS ONE Try adding a little chopped cooked bacon to the mix, or a couple of teaspoons of baby capers. Cold, leftover parsnips or celeriac can also be roughly mashed and added to the potato mix.