Can I Make Tuscan Fries With Thinly Cut Potatoes?

Our answer

NIgella's recipe for Tuscan Fries has a slightly different technique to cooking regular fries as the cut potatoes are put into cold oil and then the oil and potatoes are heated together. Garlic and herbs are added towards the end to help flavour the fries. The fries are golden and crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy in the centre.

The fries should be cut to a thickness of around 1cm/½ inch and Nigella says that if in doubt err on the generous side. This is to make sure that the fries still have a soft interior after cooking. If you cut the fries too thinly, into shoestrings or allumettes, then there is a risk that by the time they are golden on the outside they will have become too cooked through on the inside and so will be hard and crunchy and not that pleasant to eat. So we would suggest keeping the fries as close as possible to the recommended thickness.