Rosemary Roasties
Honestly, roast potatoes might be our love language. We've made these Rosemary Roasties more times than we can count and they never last long on the table. The outside is properly crispy, almost shattery, and the inside is fluffy and soft with that gorgeous rosemary hit running through every bite. They're the kind of side dish that people talk about after the meal, not just during it. If you've got 85 minutes and a bag of spuds, make these tonight. You won't regret it.
Before You Start
- Preheat oven to 200°C
- Large roasting tray
- Large pot
- Colander
- Tongs
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 ½kg Maris Piper potatoes
- 1 ½ tbsp sea salt
- 1 ½ tbsp sea salt
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
Method
Peel the potatoes
- Peel and place the potatoes in a bowl of cold water (this will help get rid of the excess starch and aid the cooking process)
- Drain the potatoes, tip them into a large pot, cover with cold water, add 1.5 tbsp of sea salt, put the pan on the stove and bring the water to the boil
- Once the water is boiling, set a timer for 8 minutes. When the timer goes off, pour the potatoes into a colander and drain off the water
- Leave the potatoes to steam dry for 5 minutes. Pick up the colander and shake the potatoes to “chuff” them. Shake the potatoes until their sides are rough (these rough edges will give you a perfect, crunchy crust)
Roast the potatoes
- Tip the potatoes into a large tray (making sure they have a bit of room to move and they’re not touching). Pour the olive oil over the potatoes, sprinkle over the salt and then turn the potatoes with a pair of tongs, making sure they’re all well covered in oil and seasoning
- Put the potatoes in the oven and roast them for 30 minutes
- Take the potatoes out of the oven, break the bulb of garlic into the pan, sprinkle over the rosemary and thyme
- Use tongs to turn the potatoes again so they’re well covered in flavour, oil and seasoning
- Put the potatoes back in the oven and roast them for a further 40-50 minutes until the skins are incredibly crispy and and a deep, gold colour
Finish and serve
- Take the potatoes out of the oven and put them on a plate covered with kitchen paper to drain off excess oil
- Serve immediately alongside a full roast with all the trimmings
Tips & Variations
- Get the oil screaming hot: Put your roasting tray in the oven while it preheats. The potatoes should sizzle the moment they hit the oil. That's how you get the crunch. Don't skip this.
- Rough them up properly: After parboiling, give the colander a good shake so the edges of the potatoes get fluffy and bashed up. Those rough bits are where all the crispiness happens.
- Fresh rosemary is worth it: Dried rosemary is fine in a pinch but fresh rosemary added in the last 20 minutes of roasting makes a massive difference. It goes slightly crispy and fragrant and it's absolutely beautiful.
Why This Works
The trick here is the parboiling step combined with roughing up the edges of the potato before they go in the oven. That's what gives you those incredible craggy bits that go super crispy in the hot oil. We also swear by starting the potatoes in cold water with a good hit of salt, it seasons them all the way through so they're never bland in the middle.