Irish Potato Bread

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, so what better time to share an old family recipe for potato bread!

For many years, boiled, mashed potatoes have been a staple accompaniment to meals in Northern Ireland. The traditional way of preparing potato bread is by throwing a few extra spuds in the boiling water when you’re cooking. You then have some left over to make into potato bread, following this recipe.

Servings

This will make 8 rounds of potato bread.

Timings

15 mins to boil the potatoes, 5 mins to turn into mash, then 10 mins to cool. Another 15 mins to make the bread.

You Will Need

• 250g potatoes (weight is after peeling)
• 30g butter
• half tsp salt
• 70g plain flour
• butter and granulated sugar to serve (optional)

Method

1. Peel and cut the potatoes into chunky pieces. Pour over boiling water from the kettle, and simmer for 15 mins.
2. Drain, then add the butter and salt. Mash to a creamy consistency, then set aside to cool in the saucepan.
3. Sieve in the plain flour, and mix together with your hands, while still in the saucepan, to form a dough.
4. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and roll out to a thickness of half to 1cm (see photos below).
5. Use a cookie cutter (mine is 78mm diameter) to cut rounds from the dough. You should get about 4 rounds initially, then another 4 by combining and re-rolling the remaining dough.
6. Lightly grease a heavy-bottomed frying pan with butter. Warm it on the hob, then put in the rounds, 4 at a time.
7. Fry lightly on each side for about 5 mins, till dappled and golden brown (see my photos). Remove to a warm plate.

The potato bread can then be served as a savoury, along with bacon, eggs, sausages, or grilled tomatoes as part of a fry.

My favourite, however, is to serve it sweetened. Melt a sliver of butter on it while warm, and sprinkle with a spoonful of granulated sugar – see below. Serve with a pot of strong tea. Delicious!

I actually have a separate St. Patrick’s Day Playlist on Spotify, curated over a number of years, so there are many tracks I could choose from for today’s musical accompaniment. Let’s settle on this one from Dundalk’s famous musical family, The Corrs – So Young.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!