Potatoes might be one of the most comforting, versatile ingredients in the kitchen, especially when they're baked until the skin is crisp and the inside is soft and fluffy. A perfectly cooked jacket potato can be simple, satisfying, and surprisingly impressive with the right topping.

I've always relied on an air fryer to get the perfect crispy jacket potatoes. It's quick, convenient, and usually delivers great results. But a chef recently told me to ditch the air fryer for a simple method instead. According to chef Ian Theasby from BOSH there's a better way to achieve that crisp skin.

"It's all about oiling the skin, right? So you get your jacket potato, you stab it a few times with a fork, and then what you do is rub in some olive oil to get it to embed into the skin.

"And then I tend to do is also rub in a little bit of salt as well, so you're sort of seasoning it right from the get-go. And then let the oven do the work.

"You just bang it in there and just roast it about 200 degrees for probably about an hour until it's crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Now that is when you are wanting maximum jacket potato quality."

He continued: "But I mean, if you're stuck for time, you can also let the microwave do quite a lot of the work. So, you could probably microwave a jacket potato for about 10 minutes before finishing it off in the oven to get that nice crispy skin."

When asked why he does not use an air fryer, the chef explained: "Do you know what? Right. I do like cooking with air fryers, but I'm a real fan of the oven. I just like the oven.

"Air fryers are great, right? And I'm sure that if I just went over to the air fryer side, then I'd be converted, but I'm just a stickler for the oven."

Ian is part of the duo at BOSH, alongside Henry Firth, who is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their plant-based food company. To celebrate, the pair has launched their eighth cookbook, More Plants, with Ian stating, "It's their best one yet."

More Plants includes 90 plant-rich meals, all ready in under 30 minutes, effortless, energising, and nutritious. The book's major focus is on fibre, vegetables, beans, grains and flavour, with recipes designed to support everyday health without being restrictive.

Within the cookbook, the pair include a recipe for pickle bean-stuffed jacket potatoes.

Ingredients

• Four baking potatoes (250 g each)


• Olive oil


• Two tablespoons of plant-based butter


• Sea salt to taste


• Freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the pickle bean topping

• 200 g gherkins


• Quarter of a red onion


• Half a small cucumber


• 25 g dill


• One lemon


• 400 g can of cannellini beans


• 400 g can of butter beans


• 450 g of firm tofu


• 30 g of BOSH nooch nutritional yeast


• One tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil


• One tablespoon of Dijon mustard


• One tablespoon of white wine vinegar


• Whole cornichons, to garnish

To begin, preheat your oven to 240°C (220°C fan / Gas 9). Prick your potatoes, then microwave the potatoes for 20 minutes at 900W, turning every five minutes.

Then rub with olive oil and salt, and finish in the oven for about 10 minutes until crispy outside and tender inside. Meanwhile, finely chop the gherkins, red onion, and cucumber. Next, pick the dill, juice the lemon, and rinse the beans.

For the filling, blend tofu, beans, BOSH nutritional yeast, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, vinegar, and water until smooth and thick. Then season well with salt and pepper.

Stir in most of the chopped veg and dill. To serve, halve the potatoes and fluff the inside. Add a little plant-based butter, spoon over the filling, and finish with the remaining chopped veg and dill.

Find out more about BOSH by clicking here. You can also discover the cookbook here.