Janssons frestelse (Swedish potato and anchovy bake)
85 min · 7 g protein · 248 cals / serving
Thin matchsticks of potato and plenty of slow-softened onion baked with Swedish ansjovis until the top is golden and crisp and the middle is creamy, salty and sweet. Here it bakes mostly in milk with just a decilitre of vispgrädde rather than all cream, with extra onion, so the dish tastes every bit like Christmas Eve and sits a little lighter next to the ham.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp butter, for the dish and the onions
- 3 large onions, thinly sliced
- 2 1/4 lb raw king edward potato, floury potatoes such as King Edward, peeled and cut in thin matchsticks (do not rinse)
- 1 can (4 1/2 oz) swedish anchovies (spiced sprats), canned, Swedish ansjovis, with 2 msk of the brine
- 1 2/3 cups semi-skimmed milk, 1.5% fat, fortified
- scant 1/2 cup heavy cream, vispgrädde
- 1/2 tsp black pepper, white or black
- 3 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp butter, in small flakes
Steps
- Heat the oven to 400°F and grease a 2-liter (8 × 12-inch) baking dish with a little of the first butter. Melt the rest in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onions with a splash of water for 10 minutes, until soft and pale gold.
- Do not rinse the potato sticks: their starch keeps the milk from splitting. Layer a third of the potato matchsticks in the dish, then half the onions and half the ansjovis fillets. Repeat, and finish with the last of the potatoes. Drizzle over the 2 tablespoons of ansjovis brine.
- Warm the milk and vispgrädde with the pepper and pour it over the potatoes; it should come about three quarters of the way up. Do not add salt, since the ansjovis brings plenty.
- Bake for 30 minutes, then press the potatoes down into the liquid with a spatula, scatter the breadcrumbs and butter flakes over the top and bake for 25–30 minutes more, until the potatoes are completely tender, the liquid is absorbed and the top is golden. Rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Good to know
Ansjovis or anchovies?
Swedish ansjovis are sprats cured in a sweet, spiced brine, and they are what makes Jansson taste like Jansson. Mediterranean anchovies in oil are saltier and not sweet; use half the amount if they are all you have, and the dish then scores about 41 instead of 37.
Can I make it ahead?
Assemble it up to the point of adding the liquid, cover and chill for up to a day, then pour over the warm milk and bake, adding 10 minutes. Reheated leftovers are excellent.
Why matchsticks, not slices?
Thin sticks soak up the creamy liquid and soften evenly while the ones on top crisp. A mandoline with a julienne blade or the coarse disc of a food processor makes quick work of them.
Per
- Calories
- 118
- Protein
- (12%)
- 3 g
- Fat
- (35%)
- 5 g
- Carbohydrates
- (54%)
- 17 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 228 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1986 kcal goes into the pot and 2056 g of ingredients comes out as about 1680 g of food: 118 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.