Potatoes with Oregano aka Patate Origanate

Who doesn't love a potato?  Hands up!  See, everybody loves potatoes.  Especially those Peruvians with over 3000 varieties.  And the rest of the world with over 5000 varieties worldwide.  So thank goodness for the Andean peoples who first cultivated them, and then Sir Francis Drake for bringing them back to Europe (so legend goes).   

Thinking of potatoes made me remember singing a song at primary school about the "discovery" of potatoes, and bringing them back to Europe.  Mr P. says he doesn't remember learning these songs at school, but we did grow up in different States so maybe that's why!

This recipe is from Appealing Potatoes by Princess Weikersheim, with a sub-title 100 recipes from around the world.  Though it seems that the Princess had some help here, as this recipe is actually by Carmelina di S. Angelo d'Alife!  Phew, there's a name!

I made this for Cookbook Club in June, so it has taken me a while to get it up on the blog.  I decided to add more cheese, and mushrooms rather than tomatoes, regular readers being aware of my tomatoey angst - hehehe ...

golden and crunchy!

Serves 4-6 as a side dish:

ingredients:

700g./1.5 lb (about 4 medium) potatoes, thinly sliced

230g./8 oz mushrooms  (I used white cup)   see Notes

60g./2 big ounces Parmesan cheese, grated

50g./1.8 oz cheddar cheese, grated

2 tsp (1 dessertspoon) EV olive oil

3-4 tsp chicken or veg. stock

1 red and 1 brown onion, thinly sliced  (use whatever you fancy)

100g./3.5 oz pitted, mixed olives, sliced

1 Tbs dried or fresh oregano leaves  (more if you love it)

sea salt and black pepper, to taste

180 mL/6 oz chicken or veg. stock

potatoes!

mushies!

Method:

Peel and slice your spuds (potatoes)

Grab a big baking dish, and spread 2-3 tsp of the olive oil, and 1-2 Tbs of the stock over the bottom of the dish

Place a layer of the potato slices on the bottom, just overlapping, (says the Princess)

Then a layer of onions over the potatoes, then some of the Parmesan

Throw on some oregano, salt and pepper

Add a wee bit of olive oil (a tablespoon or two?), then the olives

So repeat the layers of potato and onions till all used (and the cheese), and pour over the remaining stock, then a final sprinkling of oregano, salt and pepper, and olive oil

Finish with any remaining cheese (or grate some more), and some more olives if you like

Cover with alfoil, (or the lid if you have one), and bake for 50 minutes at 185C/365F

Take the alfoil off, and bake for another 20-30 minutes, till the veg. is tender and golden on top

olives

brown onion!

Notes:

The Princess calls for tomatoes rather than mushrooms - tinned, fresh or tomato purée, but you know how I feel about tomatoes :=) 

So where I add the stock, you can add tomato purée, or a layer of fresh tomato slices

gather your ingredients!

get slicing :=)

and layering

then add on your last bits of cheese

looking all golden and delicious!

even Winnie the Pooh loves potatoes!

dried oregano