Roast Potatoes
Heston - This recipe will make roast potatoes just the way I like them - with a crisp, glass-like crust and a fluffy interior. I like to add garlic, rosemary and thyme for flavour, but if you prefer your potatoes plain (kids in particular often rebel against unusual flavours in their roast potatoes), you can leave them out. It's important not to stint on the amount of oil you put in the roasting tray. The crispness on the outside of the potatoes comes from the fat that collects in cracks on their surface. So you need to provide plenty of fat so it can do just that. Some people dust potatoes with flour before they go in the roasting tray but I find this can lead to a chewier crust. That's why the potatoes are rinsed of any surface starch before they are boiled.
Heston - This recipe will make roast potatoes just the way I like them - with a crisp, glass-like crust and a fluffy interior. I like to add garlic, rosemary and thyme for flavour, but if you prefer your potatoes plain (kids in particular often rebel against unusual flavours in their roast potatoes), you can leave them out. It's important not to stint on the amount of oil you put in the roasting tray. The crispness on the outside of the potatoes comes from the fat that collects in cracks on their surface. So you need to provide plenty of fat so it can do just that. Some people dust potatoes with flour before they go in the roasting tray but I find this can lead to a chewier crust. That's why the potatoes are rinsed of any surface starch before they are boiled.
- Carbohydrate 41.244135 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.747001666591667 g
- Fiber 6.35775011205673 g
- Protein 5.02740833333333 g
- Saturated Fat 0.276885833322977 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (223g)
- Sodium 16.3166041666652 mg
- Sugar 34.8863848879433 g
- Trans Fat 0.174992708331302 g
- Calories 184 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Wash and peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Put them in a bowl under running water for five minutes to wash the starch off. Cover the potatoes with water in a large saucepan, bring to the boil and cook until very soft (about 25-30 minutes). Drain carefully and leave to cool in the colander.
- Pour five millimetres of olive oil into a roasting tray large enough to hold the potatoes in one layer. Place in the oven for 15 minutes. Add the potatoes to the tray with the garlic, if using.
- Stir to coat in the oil and place back in the oven for at least one hour, turning every 20 minutes.
- After one hour, add the rosemary and thyme to the pan, if using, and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown and crispy all over.
- Drain on kitchen paper; season with salt
Surface starch is the primary enemy of crispness because it creates a gummy barrier that prevents proper frying in the fat. Rinsing cut potatoes under running water for five minutes strips away excess exterior starch before boiling, ensuring the exterior can eventually shatter rather than chew.
Boil the quartered tubers until they reach maximum tenderness, about twenty-five to thirty minutes, which allows internal moisture to redistribute and soften the core completely. When transferring them to the oven, pour five millimeters of olive oil into a roasting tray large enough to hold everything in a single layer, as crowding forces steaming instead of browning. Heating that oil in a 180C oven for fifteen minutes prior to addition guarantees immediate thermal contact upon entry.
Aromatic herbs like rosemary and thyme burn easily during prolonged roasting cycles lasting over an hour, which is why botanical additions should wait until the final fifteen to twenty minutes of cooking. Selecting waxy-starchy varieties like King Edward or Sebago yields optimal structural integrity during the rigorous boiling phase.
