Opperdoezers à la herb garden

A delicious recipe from our colleague Franska (from Franska.nl), who, alongside her busy life as editor-in-chief, enjoys cooking for large groups of friends. Opperdoezers are only available for a few months a year, so make this herb-infused dish very quickly.

Of course, nobody is stopping you from making it with another type of potato. We certainly won’t come to check. This recipe is also very easy to prepare in advance, which is ideal when people are coming over for dinner.

Method

First make the herb cream by stirring the garlic, herbs and crème fraîche together. Keep refrigerated. Steam the potatoes in their skins for 40 minutes (I always steam them: no hassle with water and pans, and they taste delicious too. The flavour doesn’t end up in the water but stays in the potato). Everything up to this point can be done in advance.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and arrange the watercress nicely over a large serving platter. Lightly crush the potatoes with your hands. Then place them in a roasting tin and drizzle with some olive oil, pepper and salt. Bake for 15 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Allow to cool slightly and distribute the potatoes over the watercress.

Spoon a generous dollop of herb cream onto each potato and top with a slice of Parma ham rolled into a rose.

This article was produced in collaboration with AEG.

Photography: Sven Benjamins Photography
Styling: Renee Bijlsma