“It is easy to halve the potato where there is love.” – Irish Proverb
What is it about a potato that always is on the comfort food list? Fried, baked, mashed, or roasted, it always manages to hit that spot. Even in its raw form it is used – for the skin! In most countries, this is part of a staple diet.
Potatoes generally provide the main “substance” part of a dish – to fill up your tummy where vegetables fall weak. Potatoes are an all time favourite in my house – there isn’t a single day that at least one potato dish has not been made.
A good side roasted potato sounds very simple, but I can assure you it requires a lot of patience in the oven, and at a perfect temperature. The trick is to par-boil them beforehand to reduce the oven time and ensure through-and-through cooking. Drizzle with olive oil, cut but unpeeled garlic cloves, lemon slices, sea salt, pepper and lovely scented rosemary.
There are many variations to make a simple roasted potato interesting, and I will continually share them with you, but for starters, I am in love with this dish – simply because not many know the wonderful flavour of roasted lemons with the potatoes.
I usually like to add in some capers as well for that extra tanginess, but I didn’t have any on hand today.
I bake the all the ingredients in a bake dish with foil lining the bottom and covering the top. Bake with the foil covering the ingredients for the first 15 minutes. For the next 15-20 minutes remove the foil from top to allow the potatoes to crisp up. Always serve this dish piping hot straight from the oven.
ABOUT:
Ensure the potatoes are par boiled and cut into bite sized pieces to ensure all pieces bake through uniformly.
When serving, gently peel off the garlic skins if possible.
The Recipe
Serves Serves: 4 | Prep Time: 60 mins | Cook Time: 40 mins
Ingredients
- 5 potatoes, mid sized, par boiled
- 10-12 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
- 4 tbsp fresh or dried rosemary
- 2 lemons, sliced
- 1 ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 ½ tsp pepper
- ¼ cup + 2 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup capers (optional)
Instructions
- Cut the par boiled potatoes into mid-sized pieces. There is no need to peel the potatoes.
- In a foil-lined baking tray, place the potatoes, capers and rosemary.
- Cut the garlic cloves into halves and mix with the olive oil and seasonings and pour into the tray. Ensure to coat each potato piece with oil and seasonings.
- Cover the top of the baking tin with another piece of foil and bake at a preheated oven at 200°C for the first 15 minutes. Then remove the foil on top, stir, and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes, or until crisp enough.
