Hasselback Potatoes with Blue Cheese Hazelnut Crumble

For the potatoes

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

2. Place two wooden spoons on a cutting board, parallel to each other.

3. Set a potato between the wooden spoons and slice across it at 1/2 cm intervals down to the spoons, which stop the knife from cutting all the way through.

4. Repeat with all the potatoes and place them in a large roasting tray, cut-side up.

5. Strip the leaves from half a bunch of thyme into a mortar with a pinch of sea salt and bash into a rough paste with the pestle.

6. Muddle 4 tbsp olive oil into the herb paste.

7. Pour the herb oil over the potatoes, toss to coat, then arrange them cut-side up.

8. Roast the potatoes for 45 minutes until the slices start to fan out and crisp up.

   Then 45 min of waiting

For the blue cheese hazelnut crumble

9. Tear the bread into bitesize chunks into a baking tray.

10. Add the hazelnuts and a few sprigs of fresh thyme.

11. Bake in the oven alongside the potatoes for 10 minutes, until the bread is crisp and the hazelnut skins loosen.

    Then 10 min of waiting

12. Transfer the toasted bread, hazelnuts, and thyme sprigs into a food processor.

13. Tear the blue cheese into small pieces and add them to the food processor.

14. Pulse until you have a coarse or fine crumble.

To finish

15. Remove the potatoes from the oven and brush with the oil from the bottom of the tray.

16. Scatter the blue cheese and hazelnut crumble evenly over the tops of the potatoes.

17. Return the tray to the oven for 15 minutes, until golden, crispy, and sizzling.

    Then 15 min of waiting

18. Wooden spoons are the simplest way to prevent the knife from slicing all the way through the potatoes. You can apply the same technique to parsnips or carrots.