This is my much awaited for, no thrills roast potato recipe. It works every time and creates the most beautifully crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside potatoes. I know there are plenty of recipes out there that use herbs and garlic etc to make the potatoes more fancy but I just prefer mine golden and crisp ready for mopping up some lovely gravy.
Approx 1hr 20mins
Veg oil, enough to fill your roasting tin with a depth of a pound coin.
Salt
King Edward or Maris piper potatoes, peeled and cut in to halves or quarter depending on their size, just make sure they're all a similar size.
Turn your oven on to 180°c fan, get a roasting tin big enough to fit your potatoes in on one layer, each potato must be touching the surface of the tin. Pour in your oil, you must have a depth of a at least 1/2 a cm, essentially we are shallow frying the potatoes. Pop the roasting tin in the oven and let the oil heat up.
While the oven and the oil is heating up, fill a large saucepan with water and add a generous pinch of salt.
Pop your potatoes in and bring to the boil. Once boiling turn the temperature down and allow to simmer for 10mins. Please check after about 7 minutes, you may have cut your potatoes a bit smaller then I have so they'll cook quicker. The trick is to remove one or two from the water and if the edges of the potato are beginning to look see through like the picture below then they're ready to drain. They'll still be firm in the middle but soft around the edges.
Drain the potatoes and allow to steam dry for 5 minutes, all of those paler bits round he edges should end up looking like the picture below, and that's what's going to turn in to the crispy coating on our potatoes.
Give your potatoes a little shake to ruffle them up a bit more.
Now working quickly but carefully, get your hot oil from the oven and add the potatoes to the oil. Using tongs turn each potato in the oil so that they are fully covered, and season generously with salt.
TIP. Try and have the flattest part of the potato touching the roasting tin surface when you put them back in the oven... it'll make them extra crispy.
Put the potatoes back in the oven, and then read the next step immediately.
The potatoes will be in the oven for a total of 1hour. But after 20 mins get them out of the oven and baste them in the hot oil, this will almost create a shell of crispiness when they're finished cooking. Pop back in the oven, after another 20mins check again, this time you can turn the potatoes over, and then baste them again. Back in the oven for the last 20 minutes.
After the hour you should have the most golden crispy potatoes ever. Season with a little extra salt if you want and serve on your favourite roast dinner.
Please do watch my short Instagram reel as a guidance video if any of the above steps aren't clear.
