Loaded Hasselback Potato Skewers with Spiced Meat

Ingredients

Enough for 2 long skewers, serves 3 to 4 as a shareable side.

• 12 to 14 small baby or new potatoes
• long metal skewers
• ½ lb (225 g) ground beef or lamb
• 4 cloves garlic, minced, plus extra for topping
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped, plus extra for garnish
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 1 tsp paprika
• ½ tsp salt, or to taste
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil or melted butter, for basting

Method

Once threaded and cut, these grill quickly, so have your fire ready before you start slicing.

• Thread the potatoes tightly in a row onto a long skewer, running it through the center of each one so they sit flush against each other.
• Using a sharp knife, make close, even hasselback-style cuts across each potato, slicing about three-quarters of the way down without cutting all the way through.
• Mix the ground meat with the minced garlic, cilantro, chili flakes, paprika, salt and pepper.
• Press a small amount of the spiced meat mixture into each cut along the length of the skewer.
• Preheat a grill or charcoal fire to medium-high. Baste the whole skewer with olive oil or melted butter.
• Grill, turning occasionally and basting again, until the potatoes are tender all the way through and the meat and edges are nicely charred, about 20 to 25 minutes.
• Top with extra minced garlic and chopped cilantro just before serving.

Cutting hasselback potatoes that stay on the skewer

The cutting is the fiddliest part of this dish, and a little setup makes it easy. Choose potatoes that are small and roughly the same size, so the whole row cooks at the same rate. Thread them onto the skewer first, before any cutting, so they sit tight against each other and cannot roll away under the knife. Metal skewers are the right choice here: they conduct heat into the center of each potato, which helps the row cook through, and they will not snap or burn the way wooden skewers can over a charcoal fire. For the cuts themselves, lay a chopstick or the handle of a wooden spoon on each side of the skewer as a depth stop. Slice down until the knife touches the guides, which keeps every cut at about three-quarters depth without slicing all the way through. A sharp, thin knife matters more than force; press gently and let the blade do the work, because a dull knife crushes the potato and splits it. Keep the cuts close and even, a few millimeters apart, so the potato fans open slightly and gives the spiced meat somewhere to sit. If a potato does split in two, do not throw it away: push the halves back together on the skewer and pack a little extra meat into the join, which holds it in place while it grills.

Packing the meat so it cooks through

The meat layer is what makes this dish work, and thin beats thick. Press a small amount of the spiced mixture into each cut rather than stuffing a big lump into a few cuts. Thin layers cook through in the same twenty to twenty-five minutes the potatoes need, while thick wads stay raw in the middle even when the outside looks charred. Because the meat is ground beef or lamb, check it with an instant-read thermometer in the thickest bit of meat you can reach: it must reach 160°F (71°C), the same minimum this guide already gives. Do not judge ground meat by color alone, especially meat tucked inside potato cuts where you cannot see it clearly. Basting matters here too. Brush the skewers with olive oil or melted butter before grilling and again as they turn, which keeps the exposed meat and potato edges from drying out over the fire. If the meat starts to loosen and fall, the cuts were probably packed too full, so use a lighter hand on the next skewer. For variations, keep the method and change the seasoning: swap the cilantro for parsley, raise or lower the chili flakes to taste, or use lamb instead of beef. The structure, thin meat in close cuts over medium-high heat, stays the same, and that structure is what makes the dish reliable every time. Serve the skewers straight off the grill on a long board, with the extra garlic and cilantro scattered over the top at the last moment so the herbs stay bright against the charred edges. If a skewer looks dry, brush it once more with butter before serving; the gloss makes it look as good as it tastes.

Frequently asked questions