Spuds are undoubtedly among the most comforting and versatile staples in any kitchen, especially when baked until the exterior becomes wonderfully golden and crisp while the interior stays beautifully soft and fluffy. A perfectly cooked jacket potato can be a straightforward recipe, incredibly satisfying, and remarkably impressive with the right topping.
Journalist Shania King-Soyza has relied on an air fryer for ages to achieve the perfect crispy jacket potato. It’s speedy, hassle-free and reliably produces excellent results.
However, chef Ian Theasby from Bosh revealed his preferred method for cooking spuds to Shania – and the air fryer plays no part whatsoever.
He said: “It’s all about oiling the skin, right? So you get your jacket potato, you stab it a few times with a fork, and then what you do is rub in some olive oil to get it to embed into the skin.
“And then I tend to also rub in a little bit of salt so you’re sort of seasoning it right from the get-go. And then let the oven do the work.
“You just bang it in there and just roast it about 200°C for probably about an hour until it’s crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Now that is when you are wanting maximum jacket potato quality.
“But if you’re stuck for time, you can also let the microwave do quite a lot of the work. So, you could probably microwave a jacket potato for about 10 minutes before finishing it off in the oven to get that nice crispy skin.”
When quizzed about his reluctance to embrace an air fryer, the chef admitted: “I do like cooking with air fryers, but I’m a real fan of the oven. Air fryers are great, right? And I’m sure that if I just went over to the air fryer side then I’d be converted, but I’m just a stickler for the oven.”
View 3 ImagesChefs Ian Theasby (pictured left) and Henry Firth make up the BOSH team(Image: Handout)
Ian makes up one half of the BOSH duo, working alongside Henry Firth, as the pair mark a decade since launching their hugely successful plant-based food empire.
To commemorate the milestone, the twosome have unveiled their eighth cookbook, More Plants, with Ian declaring it’s their “best one yet”.
More Plants features 90 plant-packed recipes, each ready in under 30 minutes. The book centres around fibre, vegetables, beans, grains and flavour, with dishes crafted to support everyday wellbeing without imposing any restrictions.
Among the cookbook’s offerings, the pair share a recipe for pickle bean-stuffed jacket potatoes.
View 3 ImagesThe oven is the best method for a crispy jacket potato(Image: Getty)
Ingredients
- Four baking potatoes (250 g each)
- Olive oil
- Two tablespoons of plant-based butter
- Sea salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
For the pickle bean topping
- 200 g gherkins
- Quarter of a red onion
- Half a small cucumber
- 25 g dill
- One lemon
- 400 g can of cannellini beans
- 400 g can of butter beans
- 450 g of firm tofu
- 30 g of BOSH nooch nutritional yeast
- One tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oilOne tablespoon of Dijon mustard
- One tablespoon of white wine vinegar
- Whole cornichons, to garnish
Method
Start by heating your oven to 240°C (220°C fan / Gas 9). Pierce your potatoes several times, then pop them in the microwave for 20 minutes at 900W, turning them every five minutes. Next, coat them thoroughly with olive oil and salt, then pop them in the oven for roughly 10 minutes until the skins turn beautifully crisp and the insides become gorgeously fluffy.
In the meantime, finely dice the gherkins, red onion, and cucumber. Then, strip the dill, squeeze the lemon, and drain and rinse the beans.
For the filling, blitz the tofu, beans, BOSH nutritional yeast, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, vinegar, and water until you achieve a smooth, thick consistency. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
Fold in most of the chopped vegetables and dill. When you’re ready to serve, slice the potatoes in half and gently fluff up the flesh inside.
Add a generous knob of plant-based butter, dollop over the filling, and finish with the remaining chopped vegetables and dill.
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Find out more about BOSH by clicking here. You can also check out the cookbook here.