3 Ways to Roast Your Potatoes This Christmas

This recipe is adapted from Jamie Oliver.

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg Maris Piper potatoes
• 1 bulb of garlic
• red wine vinegar

Flavour Combo 1

• • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 bunch of fresh rosemary

Flavour Combo 2

• • 50 g unsalted butter
  • 1 bunch of fresh sage
  • 1 clementine

Flavour Combo 3

• • 2 tablespoons goose fat
  • 1 bunch of fresh thyme
  • 2 fresh bay leaves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190ºC
2. Peel the potatoes. Cut any larger ones so they’re all an even-size.
3. Wash the potatoes in cold water to get rid of any extra starch then tip into a large pot, cover with cold salted water and parboil for 7 minutes, then drain in a strainer and leave to steam dry for 3 minutes.
4. Give the strainer a bit of a shake to help chuff up the potatoes – this will help to make them super-crisp later.
5. This is the time you will need to decide which flavour combo to go with. Tip the potatoes into a large tray in one layer, and add the fat – olive oil, butter or goose fat – then season well with sea salt and black pepper.
6. Toss the potatoes in the fat (you could get the potatoes up to this stage the day before, simply cover them with clingfilm or tin foil and pop in the fridge or in a cool place until needed), then roast for 30 minutes, or until lightly golden and three quarters cooked.
7. Once roasted, gently squash each potato with a potato masher to increase the surface area – the more of your potato that’s in contact with the pan, the crispier it will be.
8. Add 1 good lug of oil to a small bowl and pick and/or tear in the herbs. If opting for flavour combo 2, peel in a good few strips of clementine zest with a speed-peeler – you won’t eat these but they’ll add amazing flavour. Break up the garlic bulb, adding the unpeeled cloves to the bowl, along with a splash of red wine vinegar, then scrunch and mix it up a bit.
9. Add your chosen flavour combo to the potatoes and give the pan a good shake, then pop back in the hot oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until crispy and delicious.
10. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain off some of the excess fat, serve almost immediately.