Roast Potatoes are a staple part of any good roast dinner so I’ve been practising and perfecting my roast potato skills and I think I’ve perfected it.
It’s really important that your potatoes are all chopped to roughly the same size so that they all cook at the same time. Parboil them in a pan of salted water with rosemary and garlic for ten minutes and while the potatoes are boiling, add your oil to the baking tray you’re using and get it in the oven to start heating up. Here I’m using olive oil but you could also use goose fat or beef dripping for extra flavour in your potatoes. You need to use enough oil to cover the entire bottom of the baking tray that you’re using. I’ve suggested using six tablespoons here but it depends on the size of your baking tray so you might need to use a little more that what it says here. If you find that your potatoes stick or that they’re not crispy enough, add more oil.
Once your potatoes have parboiled, drain them and let them steam dry for a couple of minutes before putting them back in the pan with the salt and flour. Put the lid back on the potatoes and shake vigorously to roughen up the edges which will go nice and crispy in the hot oven when they roast. The salt and plain flour help to draw out the moisture from the potatoes and it’s this combination that gives a crispy outside but a soft and fluffy inside. Nobody likes soft and flabby roasties!
The potatoes should sizzle when you add them to the roasting tray but be careful that the hot fat doesn’t splash while you do it – trust me it can be painful. Take care to turn each and EVERY SINGLE POTATO over to make sure it’s completely covered in the fat, this is the magic step that makes the difference for crispy potatoes.
Don’t be tempted to whack the temperature above 200 to try and speed up the process as it’ll just burn the potatoes. I’ve worked out through trial and error that the roasties are best done at 200 for an hour and 15 minutes for perfect, golden and crispy roast potatoes.
Keep scrolling for the recipe!
Roast Potatoes – The Recipe
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
900g floury potatoes
1 sprig of rosemary
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp coarse sea salt
2 tbsp plain flour
6 tbsp olive oil
METHOD
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade
- Peel and chop the potatoes in half (or quarters if they’re large)
- Add the oil to a large roasting tin and put in the oven to heat for at least 10 minutes until very hot
- Put the potatoes in a pan of water with the table salt, garlic and rosemary and boil for ten minutes on a high heat
- Drain the potatoes and leave to steam dry for 2 minutes
- Add the potatoes back to the pan and sprinkle with salt and the flour. Cover the pan with the lid and shake the pan to roughen up the edges of the potatoes.
- Carefully add the potatoes, rosemary and garlic to the hot oil and turn each potato so it’s covered in fat.
- Roast for an hour and fifteen minutes, turning every 20 minutes or until crisp and golden.
- Discard the rosemary and garlic before serving.
What are your tips and tricks for Roast Potatoes?
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