Best Crispy Roast Potatoes

Best Crispy Roast Potatoes - Easy Meals with Video Recipes by Chef Joel Mielle - RECIPE30

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with garlic, herbs and pancetta

These will be the best roasted potatoes you will ever taste. Made with garlic, thyme and rosemary and crispy pancetta. The potatoes are first cooked in water until very tender. Baking soda is added to help breakdown the outside resulting in a soft sticky texture. It’s this texture that will brown nicely for that amazing flavour. It’s made by first making an infused oil made from butter and olive oil. The garlic and herbs are chopped and added to the hot oil with seasoning. It’s heated for a few minutes and then left to infuse. It’s then reheated and strained so you retain full freshness of the herbs and garlic. This allows you to cook your potatoes longer for that crispy golden caramelisation we all love all without burning the herbs or garlic.

Ingredients

4.5lb - 2kg potatoes
Handful of fresh thyme (or one tsp dried)
Handful of fresh rosemary (or one tsp dried)
3 garlic cloves
3oz - 85g butter (6 tbsp)
¼ cup olive oil
10 -12 thin slices of pancetta
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp salt
Cracked pepper

Steps

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 375°F – 190°C.
Step 2
Wash and peel potatoes, trim off any eyes or unsightly bits. Rinse under cold water. Cut into chunky pieces and try and keep each piece roughly the same size.
Place in large saucepan and add cold water, enough to cover by at least 2 inches. Add one teaspoon of baking soda and season with approx. one tbsp of salt. Place on high heat and bring to the boil for 30 minutes from cold or until they start to break up on the edges and quite soft in the centre. Timing will vary a lot depending on potatoes chosen.
Step 3
While the potatoes are cooking, peel garlic cloves and give them a rough chop. If using fresh herbs, remove the stalks from the thyme and rosemary give them a rough chop. Otherwise use dried. Place the olive oil and butter in a small saucepan. Add the herbs and garlic mix with salt and pepper. Mix well over medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes. (Do not brown garlic) Set aside to infuse.
Step 4
Once potatoes are tender, drain in colander and give them a toss to fluff up the outside. Leave them to cool down 15 minutes.
Step 5
Place the potatoes in a bowl with the infused oil and toss to coat evenly. Alternatively, do as I do for less washing up and coat them directly in the baking pan. Make sure you coat each side well, keeping space between each piece. Place in oven at 375°F – 190°C for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes turn each piece over for even browning and bake another 20 minutes.
Step 6
Group the potatoes together and place the slices of pancetta on top of potatoes, enough to almost cover. Return to oven at 375°F – 190°C for 15 minutes.
Step 7
Serve immediately or leave at room temperature and reheat a few hours later. You can refrigerate but they will never be as good the next day.

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