This is my take on a classic French recipe. It's a great dish; once it's assembled you just leave it in the oven while you get on with other jobs.

serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• • 800g potatoes
• • 400g medium onions
• • 3 cloves of garlic
• • a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• • olive oil
• • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• • 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube, preferably organic
• • 2 knobs of butter

To prepare your potatoes

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• Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6
• Peel and finely slice the potatoes
• Peel, halve and finely slice the onions and garlic

To prepare your potatoes

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• Pick and finely chop the parsley leaves, discard the stalks
• Pour a couple of lugs of olive oil into a large, hot pan with the garlic, parsley and onions
• Slowly fry for 10 minutes, or until the onions are soft and lightly golden

To prepare your potatoes

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• Take off the heat and add a good pinch of salt and pepper
• Mix the stock cube with 850ml of boiling water

To assemble, cook and serve your potatoes

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• In a large baking dish place a layer of potatoes, a sprinkling of salt and pepper, and a layer of onions
• Continue, repeating until you’ve used everything up, but try to finish with a layer of potatoes on top
• Pour in the hot stock to just cover the top of the potatoes

To assemble, cook and serve your potatoes

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• Break up the butter and dot over the top
• Rub some foil with olive oil, place it, oil-side down, over the dish and seal tightly
• Place in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, then remove the foil, push the potatoes down and return to the oven for a further 20 to 40 minutes, or until golden and crisp