Pan Haggerty

Have you heard of pan haggerty? It's a dish that originated in the north of England, comprising of potatoes cooked with onions and cheese.

This is a great side dish that you can assemble ahead of time, but it also makes a great main course dish too.

Keep it vegetarian or try one of the many variations, either way it's a great dish to satisfy hungry appetites!

Enjoy!

Potato dishes are so comforting and economical to make so I love to try different dishes. This one is from the north east of England in Northumberland.

This one is a very simple dish, that was typically eaten as a main meal, often with the addition of other vegetables or small amounts of bacon. It was also eaten as a hearty breakfast, with bacon and fried eggs. The addition of cheese is debatable in the original dish, but it tastes so good, who cares!

It typically comprises of layers of onions, potatoes and cheese. The cooking process starts in a frying pan and finishes in the oven, so its an easy clean up too.

Jump to:

• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• ⏲️ Baking Time
• 🥗 Serve with
• Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• Storage
• FAQs
• 📋 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

🥘 Ingredients

• Potatoes - russet or Maris Piper potatoes work best for this recipe as they tend to keep their shape while cooking.
• Onions - yellow or white onions or use shallots if you prefer.
• Oil - vegetable, sunflower or olive oil for frying the onions.
• Butter
• Thyme - fresh sprigs of thyme.
• Nutmeg - freshly ground nutmeg goes beautifully with potatoes and brings out a nutty flavour.
• Salt -flaked sea salt.
• Pepper - freshly ground black pepper.
• Cheese - mature Cheddar cheese.

See recipe card for quantities.

🍽 Equipment

• oven proof frying pan - I've used a cast iron shallow pan, or you could use a frying pan then an oven dish.
• mandolin or food processor - for slicing the potatoes. A sharp knife is fine but it it will take time.
• cheese grater

🔪 Instructions

Peel the potatoes and slice thinly.

You can do this by hand or use a mandolin, if you can keep your fingers safe.

I prefer to use a food processor to do this for speed.

Peel and slice the onions and grate the cheese.

Heat the oil over a medium heat in an ovenproof frying pan.

Cook for 5 to 10 minutes until softened. Set aside.

In an oven proof pan, melt the butter over a medium heat then turn off.

Start layering the potatoes, starting with a third of the potatoes, third of the onions and a third of the cheese.

Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and scatter over some thyme leaves.

Repeat the process twice more until all the ingredients are used up.

Dot the top with the remaining butter.

Heat for 5 minutes over a medium heat to start the cooking process.

⏲️ Baking Time

Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F / 180 FAN / Gas 6.

Cover the pan with foil or a lid and bake for 40-50 minutes until tender.

Remove the foil and bake for a further 10 minutes to brown.

🥗 Serve with

• Bacon and eggs at Breakfast
• Beef olives
• Chicken Wellington
• Chicken supreme
• Cannon of lamb
• Rack of pork
• Pigeon breast with blackberry sauce

Substitutions

• Cheese - use any hard cheese that you have such as Double Gloucester, Gouda or Lancashire
• Thyme - use a teaspoon of dried thyme if you don't have any fresh or use parsley, mixed herbs or oregano instead.

📖 Variations

• Meat - cook some bacon lardons with the onions to make this more of a meal. You could also add some cooked chicken.
• Vegetables - use a mixture of vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and swede.

Storage

• Refrigerator - cool and cover and store for up to 4 days.
• Freezer - freeze covered, for up to a month.
• To reheat - in the oven, covered with foil for about 20 minutes or until piping hot.

FAQs

More potato dishes

• Individual scalloped potatoes
• Duchess potatoes
• Smashed potatoes
• Roast potatoes
• Fondant potatoes
• Twice baked stuffed potatoes

Recent recipes to try

📋 Recipe

Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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