This post is sponsored by AHDB Potatoes - a division of the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board, committed to supporting the British potato industry Are roast potatoes mostly an English thing? I’m not sure. One thing I am sure about though, is that a perfectly cooked roast potato should be darkly golden and crunchy on the outside, and fluffy on the inside. You should almost be able to ‘crack’ them open, and that gorgeous crisp coating should come away from the potato in the middle in order to soak up the gravy from that amazing roast dinner. Sorry, I went off in a bit of a daydream there - roast potatoes can do that to me. Generally speaking, I do save the roasties until I’m making a roast dinner, however AHDB potatoes challenged me to come up with a different roastie recipe. I was making a baked potato with bacon and cheese, when I hit upon the idea of doing it with roasties! Crispy potatoes, crispy bacon and melty cheese? Sounded like a match made in heaven!
Here are a few of my tips for making the perfect roast potato:
Use floury potatoes such as King Edward, Maris Piper or Rooster (as opposed to waxy potatoes) Par boil your peeled and chopped potatoes for 10-12 minutes. The usual advice is to boil for 6-8 minutes, but I find if you cook them for longer, the outside of the potato breaks down more. Meaning that you can drain the water, shake the pan, and get potatoes that are really fluffy on the outside. It’s this fluff that will give you amazing crunch. They should look like this when you’ve shaken them:
Use plenty of goose fat, lard or beef dripping and heat it in a metal tray in a very hot oven (220c/425f). Although you can make roasties with other high smoke point oils such as sunflower oil, you won’t get quite as much crunch. Don’t overcrowd the tray! If you put too many potatoes in, the oil will cool too much, and you’ll get greasy potatoes that won’t brown very well. Once they’re cooked serve them straight away. Don’t let them sit in the oil once the oven is off, or they’ll go greasy. If you want to prep ahead, you can cook the roasties until lightly browned, then remove from the oil, cool, cover and refrigerate. When it’s time to reheat them, heat the oil up in the oven first, and place the potatoes in the hot oil for 10-15 minutes, turning once or twice. These twice-cooked roasties will still be as lovely and crunchy as cookings them just once.
These Smashed Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar are perfect with any roast dinner, or why not try serving with salad and coleslaw like I did (they went down a storm!!).
The Smashed Roast Potatoes with Garlic, Bacon and Cheddar Recipe:
