Jansson's Temptation

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 8 m.-sized potatoes
• 2 large onions
• 125 g anchovy fillet(s), marinated
• 2 tbsp butter
• 200 ml cream
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 25 minutes

Jansson’s Frestelse, potato and anchovy casserole

Peel the potatoes and cut into thin slices. Peel the onion and cut into strips or thin slices. Place half of the potatoes in a baking dish. Cover with the onions, then add the anchovy fillets. Reserve the anchovy marinade. Place the remaining potatoes on top of the fish fillets, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and top with knobs of butter. Pour the marinade from the can and half of the cream over the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Place the baking dish in a preheated oven at 200°C (top/bottom heat) and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes. Depending on the oven, cover with aluminum foil at the beginning. Add the rest of the cream halfway through the baking time. Serve hot. Note: It is highly recommended to use marinated anchovies, as the marinade imparts a rich flavor and eliminates the hassle of soaking salted anchovies in water. Whether you use anchovies marinated in vinegar (optionally with sugar) or pickled in oil is purely a matter of taste. Variation: Instead of placing all the ingredients, except for the breadcrumbs, in a flat layer in the casserole dish, place them diagonally—almost upright—and perhaps omit the breadcrumbs. Use a relatively small casserole dish. You can also replace the anchovy fillets with a milder-flavored fish—or with appropriately prepared stockfish. It’s also delicious, but then it has only a distant resemblance to “Jansson’s Temptation” (Janssons Frestelse). As always, the quantities are only a guideline.