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Irish potato farls with chives and spring onions

Irish potato farls are a quick and easy dish to make with leftover mashed potatoes. They are delicious on their own with butter or as part of a larger meal as a bread replacement, especially a cooked breakfast. I like leaving them in the oven a little longer, to make them extra crispy on the bottom. But I know there are people who prefer them soft and pale.

Potatoes are often slated as unhealthy high-carb foods, but they contain more potassium than bananas, and they also contain fibre, vitamin C, vitamin B6, plus a bit of iron and calcium. They also contain phytonutrients like flavonoids that function as powerful antioxidants. This recipe would also be great with purple potatoes, but sweet potato mash is not “dry” enough for farls. If you’d like to use sweet potatoes or mashed pumpkin, try the South African “pampoenkoekies” instead.

Farls

Irish potato farls

Serves 4

Ingredients
500g mashed potatoes
heaped 1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
50g butter, melted
15g chives, finely snipped
3 spring onions, finely sliced
150g flour of your choice
1 teaspoon baking powder

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  2. Mix all the ingredients into the mashed potatoes – use the back of your large spoon to squash the potatoes into the flour. As soon as you can no longer see any flour, use your hands to form the dough into 3 balls. You can add more flour if the mixture is too wet and a little milk if it is too dry.
  3. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand and gently roll out on a lightly floured surface until about 1cm thickness.  Cut the circle into quarters.
  4. Heat one or more small cast iron frying pans with a knob of butter each over a medium heat until hot, but not smoking. Place four quarters carefully into each of the pans and bake in the oven for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how brown you like them. You can flip them over half-way, although we just leave them on the same side until we’re happy with the colour. 
  5. Serve with butter or pesto and grated cheese, with a cooked breakfast or topped with your favourite sandwich toppings.


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