Roasted red potatoes are delicious, but they take at least an hour to prepare properly, and thus we typically only have roasties on weekends. We usually do a half recipe when it’s just us. First boil the potatoes, then roast them in a hot oven. The end product is a golden, crispy potato with a soft inside. Well worth the extra time, particularly on a Sunday. Make these sometime.
After rinsing the potatoes, cut off any ugly spots.
A small paring knife might be the better tool for this task, but Dan is hooked on his Chef’s knife. (This is one of the reasons why we maintain excellent medical coverage.)
Try to cut the potatoes into fairly uniform, bite-sized pieces. That way they all cook at roughly the same rate.
After you boil the potatoes for approximately 5 minutes (they will not be fully cooked at this point), drain them. While a colander works well for draining the potatoes, this strainer works great too and is easy to clean up.
When the potatoes are well drained, add a pat of butter and a drizzle of olive oil to the pot, then wait a minute or two until the butter melts. Dump the potatoes onto a cookie sheet, and place them into a hot oven.
To ensure that the potatoes cook evenly, every 15 minutes or so remove the sheet from the oven and stir/turn the potatoes with a spatula.
The potatoes cook in the oven for about 45-55 minutes total. (We only made a half recipe this night, so that’s why the sheet looks so sparse).
After they are done, drain the potatoes on paper towels and add salt and pepper to taste.
Roasties!
Roasted Red Potatoes
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds red potatoes, rinsed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut potatoes into bite-sized chunks, placing them into a large saucepan full of water as you cut them. Heat the potatoes, covered, until the water boils, and then remove the lid and lower the heat and boil gently for approximately 5 minutes.
Drain the potatoes well, and return the potatoes to the saucepan. Add the butter and olive oil, stir GENTLY to coat the potatoes (you don’t want to mash them), and dump the potatoes onto a rimmed cookie sheet, arranging them evenly on the sheet.
Bake in the oven until nicely browned, turning every so often with a spatula, approximately 45 to 60 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.