River Cottage

Hugh's crispy baked potatoes with spiced beans are perfect for the great outdoors

Serves 4

• 4 baking potatoes
• Large knob of butter
• 4 tbsp crème fraiche or cream
• Handful of grated cheddar cheese
• 5 spring onions, finely sliced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the campfire beans

• Splash of rapeseed oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 400ml roasted tomato passata
• 2 x 400g cans haricot beans, drained
• 2 tsp mixed sweet paprika and cumin

1. Wrap the potatoes well in foil and bake in the embers of a fire for about 1½ hours, moving them around in the fire to ensure they cook evenly.

2. Remove from the fire and carefully unwrap the potatoes. Cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the middles into a bowl leaving about 5mm of potato around the edge of the skin.

3. Roughly mash the potato and add all the remaining ingredients one by one mixing after each addition. Return the cheesy potato mixture to the potato shells.

4. Place the potato halves in the bottom of a Dutch oven lined with crumpled foil. Put the lid on the oven and nestle in the embers of the fire and carefully scoop more embers onto the top of the oven. Cook for about 15 minutes checking occasionally.

5. For the beans, add a little oil to a Dutch oven or saucepan and when hot add the chopped onion and lightly fry. When the onion has a little colour add the passata and then the beans and sprinkle in the spice mix. Bring to a simmer, season with salt and pepper and serve with the potatoes.