Irish potato bread is simple and delicious and a great use of our national vegetable, the potato! The potato that grows so happily and sustainably in our soil. They are called potato farls in the north of Ireland and are traditionally eaten at breakfast time. They are made with mashed potato, flour, butter and salt and cooked on a dry griddle pan to get the brown speckled marks.
My kids love them with beans and they make a great alternative to the well know shop bought potato waffle!
You can make them with leftover mash potato. We hope you try our recipe.
Lou x
Ingredients: makes 8
750g potatoes
150g plain flour, sifted
75g butter (dairy or plant based)
1 heaped teaspoon salt
Serve with:
250g chestnut mushrooms
50g spinach
1 tin of baked beans
Method:
- If not using leftover mashed potatoes, peel the potatoes and steam or boil them until fully cooked.
- Use a potato ricer to rice the potatoes, if you have one. If not, just mash them, but your potato bread will come out better if you use a ricer.
- Next, add the butter and salt. Taste the potatoes at this point, add more salt if needed. Then, very lightly mix in the sifted flour. It will come together into a dough very quickly and easily.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured area gently fold over until smooth. Divide into two equal portions and form each into a ball. Roll one ball out to about 1/3″ thick, then cut into quarters with a large knife or cake lifter. Repeat with the second measure of dough.
- Heat a pan or griddle to medium to medium high. When hot, begin cooking the Irish potato bread (do not use oil or butter.) When brown on both sides, place on a clean tea towel and cover.
- These are fully cooked and may be eaten as is, but traditionally, they are fried in the same pan with an extra bit of butter.
- Quarter and sauté the mushrooms and wilt the spinach on a pan, warm the beans and serve with the warm potato bread.
