Rakott Krumpli with Crisp Sausage, Bacon and Sour-Cream Custard

Method

1. Scrub the potatoes and cook them whole and unpeeled in a 20 cm pot of cold water with part of the salt. Bring to a boil on medium-high heat and cook for 20 min, until a knife meets slight resistance in the centre. Drain and leave to steam dry.

   Add in this stepWaxy potatoes 550 gSalt 0.6 tsp

   medium-high heat

2. Cook the eggs in boiling water on medium heat for 9 min, then cool them in cold water and peel.

   Add in this stepEggs (to hard-boil) 2

   medium heat

3. Cut the bacon into 1 cm strips, slice the sausage 3 mm thick and finely slice the onion. Put the bacon in a cold 20 cm frying pan, set it on medium heat and let the fat render for a few minutes. Add the sausage and cook until the edges curl and crisp, then add the onion for the last few minutes and cook until soft and golden. The whole step takes about 8 min. Keep the fat in the pan.

   Add in this stepSmoked streaky bacon 60 gSmoked sausage (Hungarian kolbász or similar) 120 gOnion 1

   medium heat

4. Whisk the sour cream, cream, egg yolks, nutmeg, the rest of the salt and some pepper into a smooth custard. The yolks make it set into a silky layer instead of running.

   Add in this stepSour cream (20% fat) 240 gDouble cream 60 mlEgg yolks 1Ground nutmeg 1 pinchSalt 0.9 tspBlack pepper to taste

5. Preheat the oven to 190 °C and butter a baking dish.

   Add in this stepButter 7.5 g

   oven

6. Peel the potatoes and slice them 5 mm thick; slice the eggs. In the 20×15 cm dish, layer a third of the potatoes, half the sausage mixture with a spoonful of its fat, half the eggs and a third of the custard. Repeat, then finish with potatoes and the remaining custard. Dot with the rest of the butter and dust with paprika.

   Add in this stepButter 18 gSweet paprika ½ tsp

7. Bake in the oven for 35 min, until golden on top and bubbling at the edges; a knife pushed into the centre should come out hot.

   oven

8. Rest for 10 min so the custard firms up, then scatter with chopped parsley and cut into squares.

   Add in this stepFlat-leaf parsley 4 g