Potatoes, Bacon, and Sauerkraut – Strapacky

Strapacky (strapachky) is a Slovak dish, traditionally made with halusky (halushky), potato dough gnocchi, baked with bacon and sauerkraut. Making strapacky with plain potatoes, however, is a lot less work, doesn’t require special equipment or tedious cutting, and is grain/gluten free. It’s not low carb or Paleo, but I’m sure it would taste amazing with sweet potatoes or cauliflower instead of white potatoes.

This recipe is the perfect platform for getting used to sauerkraut. Perhaps you’ve heard sauerkraut is healthy but just can’t get used to the taste. Perhaps you’ve made some and don’t know how else to use it up. It’s true that cooking the sauerkraut kills the probiotics, but it also mellows the taste. Strapacky’s a good way to accustom your taste buds to sauerkraut if you haven’t taken to it and a delicious way to eat it if you have.

This recipe is very loose, so adapt it to your taste. 300g of sauerkraut is for the one who isn’t so sure about sauerkraut, 600g is for the sauerkraut lover. Add more bacon if you love it or cut back to be economical.

Strapacky
makes one baking sheet full

1kg (2.2lbs) potatoes (or sub sweet potatoes or cauliflower, like for AIP)
200g (7oz/1-1 1/2 cups) bacon
300-600g (10-20oz/2-4cups) sauerkraut
(unrefined) salt to taste

Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Chop potatoes into small chunks, peeled or not as you prefer, and add chopped bacon. Roughly cut the sauerkraut about every 5cm/2inches or so, and add to the potatoes. If you use less sauerkraut you might want to add a bit of salt.
Spread out on a greased cookie sheet with sides (jelly roll pan they’re called, I recently learned) and bake at 180C/350F for 45 min or until potatoes are soft and golden, stirring every 15 min or so. Eat hot and enjoy!

Shared at Fat Tuesday, Real Food Wednesday, Allergy Free Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, Fight Back Friday, Real Food Friday, Unprocessed Friday, Savoring Saturdays, AIP Recipe Roundtable