Roasted potatoes are primarily associated with Christmas, or at most as side dishes at festival feasts. But real spud-lovers would know that there is no wrong season or wrong time to eat potatoes. If you’re with us so far, there are a multitude of awesome ways to eat potatoes, wouldn’t you agree? Recipes that showcase the versatility and adaptability of this humble ingredient top that list. One such way of eating potatoes, on our minds, is roasted potatoes. Which is why we think they need not be limited to festivals and occasions.
Moreover, it is a simple, almost minimalistic way to make potatoes as fancy as you can. With this recipe, give them a deceivingly crunchy exterior to simultaneously mask and heighten the pleasure of the fluffy, cloudy interior. Dressing it up in herbs of your choice adds the flavor you like. Also, you will not have to put up with any ‘deep-fried, hence unhealthy’ argument. We reckon it reduces the binging guilt a tad bit, does it not?
Roasted potatoes make for a great appetizer. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
How to Make Roasted Potatoes?
Roasted potatoes, arguably, are the simplest way of making fancy potatoes. The kind of fancy that can make it to a formal dinner table but can also elevate a binge-watching session. The most important ingredients are potatoes and oil. The only challenge a cooking novice might encounter is mastering the texture of the potatoes, but it gets easier with experience.
Traditionally, roasting is a technique where you cook over an open fire. In fact, roasting over an open fire is one of the earliest methods of cooking food discovered by humans. They found that roasting their hunt would make the meat more edible and easier to digest. Today, roasting is about cooking with dry heat in the oven. [1]
Coming back to our recipe, to start off on the right foot, it is important to choose the right potatoes. When roasting, choose potatoes that are not too starchy or too waxy, but ones that strike a decent balance somewhere in between. Also, ensure they are more or less the same size so that it is easier to have uniform pieces and achieve proper roasting.
Since this recipe calls for the skin to be left on, choose potatoes with thin skin. We prefer the crispy skin that is achieved during the roasting process. However, you can peel it off if you are not a fan.
This recipe can be made in two ways. You can toss the oil-covered potatoes in the pan, or place them in the oven and let the magic happen. The end result, in both cases, is golden roasted, flavorful potatoes. Let’s take a look at how to achieve this, shall we?
Roasted Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1 kg potatoes
- olive oil virgin
- 5-8 large cloves garlic minced
- 4-6 sprigs rosemary fresh
- 2-4 sprigs thyme
- 1 cup parsley or coriander
- salt to taste
- black pepper freshly ground
Instructions
- To make golden roasted potatoes, start by preparing the potatoes. If you are leaving the skins on, wash and scrub them clean. Otherwise, peel them and dice them into uniform pieces.
- Boil these pieces with a pinch of salt in the water. Ensure that they do not lose consistency or get too soft. Take these off the heat.
- Meanwhile, in a pan, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil. To this, add the minced garlic and the herbs. Let the garlic turn golden.
- Take the pan off the heat. Pass this oil through the strainer. Save the garlic and herbs separately from the oil.
- In a bowl, place the boiled potatoes and pour the strained oil over them. Toss them together to ensure uniform coating. Also, add the salt and black pepper to this mix. Toss these well till you see an almost mushy coating form over the potatoes.
Oven-Roasted Potatoes
- If you are using the oven to roast potatoes, place them in the baking tray layered with a parchment sheet. Place them in a single layer and do not crowd the tray.
- Bake them in the oven for about an hour at 400 degrees F or 200 degrees C. At around the 20-30 minute mark, intervene to flip them around.
Pan-Roasted Potatoes
- If you are looking to skip using the oven, here is how you roast potatoes in the pan. Follow the same steps through till tossing the boiled potatoes in the bowl.
- Place a pan on medium heat. Once hot, bring the potatoes in. Do not overcrowd the pan or the potatoes could turn mushy and not crispy.
- Keep moving them around in the pan to ensure roasting on all sides. Once brown and crunchy on all sides, take them off heat.
Serving
- Serve them hot in a bowl, garnished with chopped parsley or coriander as well as the garlic and herb mix saved from the infused oil.
Notes
Do you have any secret tricks to customize your roasted potatoes? Or is this your first time roasting potatoes? Leave us a message in the comments section below to let us know. We would love to hear from you.
