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Golden roast potatoes

Roast potatoes for web

For me, the linchpin of a good Christmas dinner is the roast potato: golden and crunchy on the outside, soft and cloudy inside. I am not normally a ‘rule’ kind of person – unless we are talking roast potatoes. Find my roast potato golden rules here.

MAKE AHEAD

Once the potatoes are crisp, golden and perfect you can keep them in the roasting tray at room temperature, warming for 10 minutes in a hot oven just before you serve. If you want to be really ahead of the game, the night before, you can blanch and season and tray up your potatoes tossed in a little oil to stop them discolouring, adding the flavourings to the tray too and keep in the fridge, or outside if its cold, bring to room temperature before skipping to the Roast the potatoes step.

LEFTOVERS

Cold from the fridge is my preference but if you must heat them in the oven at 150 for 10 minutes.

Other flavouring options:

  • a whole, halved bulb of garlic with rosemary sprigs and strips of lemon zest;

  • lots of flaky salt and two tablespoons of white-wine vinegar and some capers

  • A few bay leaves, sprigs of thyme and strips of orange zest.

  • The zest of 1 lemon in speed peeler strips and a tablespoon of coriander seeds

Duration
1hr +
Serves
6
Roast potatoes for web

Ingredients

  • 2kg Maris Piper or other floury potatoes, peeled
  • Salt and black pepper
  • 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 lemons, zested and halved
  • 2 small or 1 large heads garlic, cloves broken up but not peeled
  • 3 sprigs of rosemary

  1. Peel & boil the potatoes

    Heat the oven to 200C, 180C fan or 375F. Peel 2kg potatoes and cut the smaller ones in half and bigger ones in quarters. Wash in cold water to get rid of any extra starch, tip into a large pot, cover with cold water and season well with salt. Bring to a boil, cook for about 10-12 minutes, until almost fully cooked and soft on the outside.


  2. Fluff the potatoes

    Drain the potatoes in a colander, leave to steam-dry for five minutes then return to the pan and then shake vigorously with the lid on until the potatoes have a ragged, fluffy edge, which will mean golden crisp bits; leave to steam-dry for five minutes.

  3. Roast the potatoes

    Put 5 tbsp of olive oil in a roasting tray then put it into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes to get really hot before you add the potatoes. Once the oil is hot, toss them in the oil, season well with salt and pepper and add the zest of 2 lemons, the unpeeled and bashed cloves of garlic and the sprigs of rosemary. Halve the lemons and add these to the tray too before returning the tray to the oven. Roast for 40-50 minutes.

  4. Turn the potatoes

    Turn the potatoes with tongs a few times during cooking to ensure that they are golden all over. Alternatively you could lightly squash the potatoes with a potato masher, to give more surface area in contact with the tray, which means more brown bits.

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