Oven-Baked Potato Crisps

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g floury potatoes (4 medium, about 150 g each)
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 ½ tsp sweet paprika (1 for the crisps, ½ for the sauce)
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp fine salt
• 200 g fromage frais 3%
• 2 tbsp ketchup

🍴 Utensils

• Mandoline with hand guard
• 2 baking trays
• Baking paper
• Large mixing bowl
• 2 clean tea towels
• Bowl

📖 Steps

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C, fan if possible so you can bake two trays at once, and line them with baking paper. Scrub the potatoes under running water: no need to peel them, the skin turns crisp.
2. Slice the potatoes on the mandoline into very thin, even rounds (1 to 1.5 mm), always using the hand guard: the blade is extremely sharp. Slices of equal thickness all cook at the same time.
3. Put the slices into a large bowl of cold water, swish them around with your hands, drain and repeat 2 or 3 times until the water stays clear. This removes the starch that would make the crisps stick together and burn before they crisp up.
4. Spread the slices out on a clean tea towel, cover with the second one and pat to dry them thoroughly. This is the key step: slices that are still damp steam and stay soft.
5. Wipe the bowl dry and mix the oil, 1 tsp paprika and the garlic powder in it. Add the slices and toss them by hand, separating them one by one, so each one has a light sheen of oil.
6. Spread half the slices in a single layer over the 2 trays, without overlapping: you'll need two batches to cook them all. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, swapping the trays halfway through. From 12 minutes, remove the crisps as they turn golden and firm: the thinnest ones brown quickly.
7. While they bake, make the dipping sauce: in a bowl, mix the fromage frais, ketchup and ½ tsp paprika until smooth and evenly pink, then keep in the fridge until serving.
8. Salt each batch as soon as it comes out of the oven, while still hot, and leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes: the crisps finish crisping up as they cool. Put any that are still soft back in the oven for 2 minutes, then serve with the well-chilled sauce.