Meliz’ Perfect Roast Poatoes

One thing I get asked all the time, not just at Christmas, is how to make the perfect roast potatoes – you know the ones that are alluringly golden in colour, super crispy and crunchy on the outside, and deliciously fluffy on the inside? Well here’s how I make mine and exactly how I will be making them on Christmas Day. Follow the method and recipes for super roasties that you’ll make again and again.

Ingredients:

1.5g kg Maris Piper Potatoes, peeled and halved / quartered into 5-6cm chunks.

100-125ml sunflower / vegetable oil

1 ½ tsp sea salt flakes

½ bulb of garlic

A few twigs of fresh thyme or rosemary

Method:

Add the potatoes to a large pan and fill up with cold water. Add ½ tsp salt to the pan and place it on a medium-high heat. Bring up to a boil and boil for 8-10 minutes so that the potatoes soften but not enough to completely crumble. Drain them through a colander, then shake them around so that their edges really fluff up. Allow to cool down a little while you preheat the oven.

Preheat your oven to 200C fan / 220C and once hot, pour the oil into your baking tray and let it heat up, on the top shelf, for around 20 minutes until smoking hot. I use a tray that isn’t as deep as a roasting tin but one that isn’t as shallow as a baking tray, around 2-3cm deep.

Take the tray out of the oven, and carefully, one by one, add the potatoes to the smoking hot oil, evenly spacing them around – do not crowd them too close together otherwise the potatoes will end up steaming rather than roasting and crisping. Once all the potatoes are in the tray, very carefully tilt it, and spoon the hot oil over the tops of the potatoes. Sprinkle liberally with the remaining sea salt, add the garlic to the tray, then place it back in the oven on the middle shelf.

After 20-25 minutes, if it looks as if the bottoms and sides are starting to crisp up, take the tray out of the oven and give them a gentle toss in the oils, turning them over, add the fresh herbs to the tray then pop the tray back into the oven. Keep repeating this basting and turning process every 20 minutes or so for another hour (or even longer) until the potatoes are delectably golden brown in colour, super crispy on the outside, and irresistibly fluffy on the inside.

Note: if making any more than 1.5kg of potatoes, then use 2 separate trays and the same amount (100ml) of oil in each tray.

For a little extra flavour and indulgence, you can swap the oil for duck fat.