Potato, mushrooms, curry

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6. Scrub the potatoes and prick the skin of each a few times with a fork. Bake the potatoes, either on a baking tray or directly on the shelf of the oven, for about 1 hour, or until they feel completely tender when pierced with a knife.

Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add half the mushrooms and fry fairly briskly for about 5 minutes until tender and starting to colour, keeping the heat fairly high to drive off the moisture the mushrooms release. Transfer to a dish. Repeat with the remaining oil and mushrooms, then return the first lot back to the pan, adding the garlic and curry paste. Stir over the heat for about a minute, then remove.

Halve the baked potatoes lengthways, holding them in a tea towel so you don’t scald your fingers. Scoop out most of the baked flesh into a bowl, leaving each potato skin with a 5mm thick shell of flesh. Return the potato shells to the oven to keep hot while you make the filling (for no longer than 10 minutes).

Mash the scooped-out potato with the butter and some salt and pepper, then lightly stir in the curried mushrooms. Spoon the mixture back into the potato shells and heat through in the oven for 10–15 minutes.

Leave to stand for about 5 minutes to cool slightly, then grind over some salt and pepper before serving. A dollop of mango chutney on the side goes well here.

Swaps

Puy lentils, cooked, and a couple of leeks, sliced and sweated down gently in butter, are delicious folded into the potato flesh instead of the mushrooms.

Another take

Try replacing the mushrooms with crumbled goat’s cheese and finely sliced spring onions or chopped chives.