Greek Sausage And Hasselback Feta Potatoes Recipe

If you have a little extra time and want to fancy up your baked potatoes,  you can always try the Hasselback method where the potatoes are cut to resemble what recipe developer Kara Barrett refers to as an "accordion" shape. These sliced potatoes, she feels, "elevate the meal a little, making it feel gourmet." The potatoes in this recipe are also flavored with Mediterranean-style ingredients including oregano, feta cheese, and lemon juice, with this last-named ingredient being, as Barrett claims, "a nod to Greek lemon sauces."

This one-pan meal also calls for sausages, although it may not be too easy to find loukaniko, Greek links that are typically made from pork and include flavorings such as lemon, oregano, and garlic. While Barrett does recommend using loukaniko, she does say that other types of sausages can be used in its place if it's not available where you shop and you'd rather not spend big bucks ordering it online. Italian would work well as a substitute, as would sausages made of lamb.

For the sausage part of this recipe, you will need some pork or lamb sausage links. Barrett also likes to use small, yellow or red potatoes and seasons them with olive oil, salt, oregano, and parsley along with lemon juice and zest. The potatoes are then stuffed with feta cheese and topped off with sun-dried tomatoes

Barrett calls this recipe "a fun way to introduce cooks to the Hasselback or accordion method." If you've never Hassellbacked a potato before, it's not too much of a hassle, although doing so may be somewhat time-consuming in this recipe since the potatoes are smaller and more numerous than in a Hasselback potato recipe calling for larger ones. Before you start slicing, better preheat the oven to 400 F.

Basically, the Hasselback technique consists of cutting numerous slits through each potato, but not all the way to the bottom. One way to achieve this is if you have a pair of chopsticks or similarly-sized utensils. Place them on either side of the potato and use them as a cutting guide: Hit the top of the chopstick; stop cutting. As for the slits, these can be about ¼-inch apart or so in order that each potato can have a fair number of them.

Combine the oil with the lemon zest and juice, oregano, parsley, and salt. Rub this mixture over the potatoes, then divide the feta crumbles in half. Use one of the portions of cheese to stuff between each potato slice

Bake the potatoes and the sausage for 40 minutes, but turn the latter over after about 20 minutes so they can brown on both sides. When the potatoes come out of the oven, sprinkle the remaining feta and the tomatoes over the top as a garnish. You can also add some additional salt or lemon juice or possibly even some fresh basil or parsley if you'd like a bit of greenery.

Barrett suggests that the sausages and potatoes are best eaten when still warm from the oven. If you don't finish the lot in a single sitting, though, she does say you can refrigerate the leftovers for up to 4 days.