PO.Tay.Toes – its hard not to love em! They’re great in stews and curries thanks to their superior flavor absorption capability, and equally good on their own… sautéed, mashed or deep fried. My favorite way to enjoy them is roasted – as a side to a Sunday Roast dinner or even with some simple grilled chicken and veg during the week. Years ago, when I had a matchbox sized kitchen and couldn’t afford a convection oven, this is how I cooked them (in a pan)😊. You do not need an oven to make great roast potatoes! I promise that with this recipe, they turn out perfectly soft and fluffy on the inside with a beautiful, crisp exterior!
There’s three secrets to this recipe: 1) I use a stock cube (yep, guilty.) – but it adds so much flavor! Feel free to use chicken/ vegetable stock instead; just add 2 tbs of stock every time the recipe calls for the same quantity of water. 2) Adding liquid every 8 – 10 minute interval while the potatoes are cooking! This is how we get them to steam and cook to a fluffy interior without drying out and burning. 3) A little bit of butter for the final roast! The butter helps the potato exteriors crisp and turn the most perfect golden; again you can use oil instead, but butter browns beautifully. See what I mean?
Recipe: Pan Roasted Potatoes
Equipment
- Cast Iron or Non-Stick Frying Pan
- Potato Peeler (Optional)
Ingredients
- 500 gms Baby Potatoes1
- 2 tsp Olive Oil
- 8 – 10 small cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp Rosemary [dried2]
- 1 Stock Cube [chicken / vegetable / meat]
- Salt [to taste]
- 6 -8 tbs Water
- 1 tsp Butter
Instructions
- Wash and peel the potatoes; prick them all over with a fork.
- Cut just a bit off the tops off each clove of garlic3 like you see in the image below.
- Add 2 tsps of olive oil to a frying pan followed by garlic and rosemary. Sauté on medium heat until fragrant.
- Next, add the potatoes and sauté for 2 – 3 minutes, making sure they are well coated with the rosemary.
- Make a well in the middle of the pan and add a coupe of tablespoons of water. Crumble the stock cube into the water as it bubbles.
- Add salt to taste and stir well!
- Reduce heat to minimum and pop a lid on. Allow the potatoes to steam for 10 minutes. Check to see if the moisture has evaporated and add 2 more tbs of water; cover and allow to cook for another 10 minutes4.
- 20 minutes in, all of the moisture should have evaporated and the potatoes should have cooked through. Prick with the tip of a knife or a fork, to check if soft and done. The potatoes should have also started to go golden by this point. In case the potatoes are not as soft as you'd like, add 2 tbs of water and steam for an additional 5 – 10 mins.
- Once the potatoes have cooked through and the moisture is all dried up, its time for the crisping! Add a tsp of butter to the pan and stir gently, making sure to coat all the potatoes evenly.
- Continue to roast for 4 – 5 mins, turning them over from time-to-time until you see them go crisp and golden!
- Serve hot and enjoy!!
Notes:
1I use baby potatoes, but feel free to use regular size potatoes cut into chunks.
2I use dried rosemary because its easier to find where I live. Fresh is great too and has an even better aroma! Just remember to use a little more (possibly 3 – 4 sprigs) if using fresh rosemary, as the dried version tends to be a little more intense in flavour).
3Its important to keep the skins on the garlic so that it doesn’t burn! Bonus: taking a bit off the top will allow you to easily squeeze the cooked garlic out of its skin so that you can enjoy its goodness!
4One of the tricks to this recipe is to ensure that there’s always just enough moisture in the pan so that the potatoes don’t burn. Make sure to lift the lid and give the potatoes a stir every 5 -6 minutes just to be safe.
5Source: The Nutritional Value of Potatoes- https://www.eufic.org/en/healthy-living/article/the-goodness-in-potatoes
Unfortunately, Potatoes have this bad rap for being “too starchy” / “bad carbs”, which is undeserved considering they’ve actually got great nutritional value! You probably know they are a source of energy (carbohydrates), B group vitamins and potassium. But did you know that they’re also a reliable source of Vitamin C? (So important in supporting a healthy immune system, particularly now!) Vitamin C does breakdown when exposed to heat, but enough is retained to make cooked potatoes a good source of this all important nutrient5. So eat your potatoes boys and girls! They are very healthy as long as you cook them without adding copious amounts of oil / other fats, and like with all kinds food, when eaten in moderation.🖖
