Kugelis (Lithuanian Potato Dish)

Step 1

Melt the butter in a large frying pan on low heat. Add the finely chopped onion and sautee the onion, until it softens and turns light golden brown. You will find that there is a lot of butter in the pan, and that's exactly what you want - it will be added to the potato pudding, making it creamy and moist.

Step 2

Grate the peeled potatoes using the fine zester side of your grater box (alternatively, use a food processor (like Vitamix or an electric grater) to blitz the raw potatoes into a paste.

Step 3

At this point, preheat the oven to 180° C Fan. Grease the ovenproof dish with oil or butter.

Step 4

Mix the potatoes with the buttery onion mixture, milk, eggs and salt. Mix in the lemon juice (or crushed Vitamin C tablets). Mix everything very well.

Step 5

Pour the potato pudding mixture into the prepared dish and bake for 40 minutes. Then increase the temperature to 200℃ and bake for another 15-20 minutes. The top should be golden brown and the sides of Kugelis should be coming away from the sides of the dish.

Step 6

Whilst the potato pudding is baking, make the sauce.

Step 7

Add the small cubes of bacon to a large dry frying pan and fry on medium heat until they crisp up and turn brown. Take them out of the pan and set aside.

Step 8

In the same pan, melt the butter, and add the onions. Saute on medium heat, until softened and browned slightly.

Step 9

Once the onion is cooked, add the crispy bacon back into the pan and mix. Just before serving, add the sour cream, a couple of tablespoons of water and heat for 3-4 minutes to warm through.

Step 10

When Kugelis is cooked, leave it in the dish to set at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Cut it into portions, dollop a generous amount of onion and bacon sauce on top and serve immediately.