Such a classic and so yummy! These potatoes do take a little longer to make, but they are definitely worth the extra time and effort. Perfect for Sunday dinner or any special meal.

I usually work with about one medium-large potato cut into 3-4 pieces per person.

Whenever I write or say ‘potatoes’ I always think of this scene from Lord of the Rings:

“Sam: What we need is a few good taters.
Smeagol: What’s “taters”, precious? What’s “taters”, eh?
Sam: Po-tay-toes! Boil em, mash em, stick em in a stew. Lovely big golden chips with a nice piece of fried fish.”

British Roast Potatoes

6 servings

Ingredients:

6-7 medium-large potatoes, peeled and washed
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tsp four (optional)
Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C fan. Peel and wash the potatoes, then chop them into sizeable chunks. I usually cut each potato into 3-4 pieces.
2. Place the chopped potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Once the water has started boiling cook for another 5 min. You want the potatoes to be slightly softer when you spike them with a knife, but you don’t want them to be completely cooked or falling apart. You’re just giving them a head start. (This step is optional but does improve the potatoes!)
3. Line a baking tray with baking parchment (or you could use a baking tin). You want to have a big enough tray or tin to be able to spread the potatoes out in a single layer. Drizzle 2 tbsp of sunflower oil onto the parchment and place in the oven for 5-10 min to get really hot.
4. Drain your potatoes and add 2 tsp flour and a sprinkling of salt and pepper to the pan. Put the lid back on the pan and shake the pan vigorously a couple of times to fluff up the edges of the potatoes and coat them in the flour and seasoning. (This step really makes a difference as well and gives you lovely, crispy potatoes!)
5. Remove the oiled baking tray from the oven and add the potatoes. Toss the potatoes until they are all lightly covered in oil, then return the tray to the oven and cook the potatoes for 40-50min, until they are cooked through, golden brown and crispy. Stir the potatoes every 15-20min during cooking so that they crisp up evenly on all sides. Before serving sprinkle with a little extra salt.

Then enjoy!

Notes/tips:

-You could also use olive oil or coconut oil, instead of sunflower oil.
-A sprinkling of fresh or dried thyme would be a great addition and would make these potatoes even more fragrant!
-How many potatoes I use often depends on what I’m serving them with and how hungry everyone is. I often use one potato per person as a general guideline and then I try and gage it by sight, once I’ve chopped them up. I usually make a bit more than I think I’ll need. The potatoes usually end up getting eaten pretty quickly anyway! And they can also be eaten cold the next day. When I was younger that used to be one of my favourite things. After a Sunday dinner at my Grandma’s house she would give us any leftover roast potatoes to take home and in the evening me and my Dad would eat them cold with lashings of cream cheese. It was so yummy and I have such fond memories of that little tradition we had!