Roast potatoes are a cornerstone of British cooking, delivering a pleasing crunch and wonderful flavour that complements any dish. Yet ensuring roast potatoes will be extra crunchy can be a difficult task. Fortunately, a culinary specialist has unveiled a straightforward technique for perfecting your roasties consistently, potentially making it easier than you thought to transform this traditional favourite.
Expert tips from HelloFresh
Mimi Morley, Senior Recipe Developer at HelloFresh, has disclosed some essential principles to observe. With its considerable Instagram presence, HelloFresh serves as a reliable resource for culinary guidance, and provides various additional suggestions for improving your roast potatoes.
When questioned about her individual method for roast potatoes, the specialist stated: "I like to elevate roast potatoes for non roasts by serving on a bed of soured cream and then load up the toppings - salsa verde drizzled over, some chopped herbs, crispy onions, some toasted flaked almonds and some sesame seeds... or whatever nuts I've got lying around (because roast potatoes can work for every meal type, not just roasts)."
The simple method for guaranteed crispiness
Regarding achieving that coveted crispiness, HelloFresh has previously offered some useful recipe guidance. According to Mimi, there's a simple approach to guarantee success in the kitchen. Start by peeling the potatoes and cutting them into 4cm pieces. Place them in a saucepan of water, making sure they are fully submerged before covering with a lid or clingfilm.
Leave them to soak overnight at room temperature. When you are ready to cook, place the large saucepan of potatoes (keeping the water) over a high heat, adding a generous pinch of salt and bringing to the boil. Allow them to boil until the edges begin to soften when tested with a knife – this should take around 10 minutes.
At this point, mix a little rosemary with some plain flour, along with salt and pepper. Drain the potatoes and leave them to stand for approximately two minutes to ensure all excess moisture evaporates. Dry your saucepan thoroughly before returning the potatoes, keeping them off the heat.
Fluffing and roasting for the perfect finish
Add the rosemary flour, cover with a lid and shake firmly to "fluff" the potatoes, which will help distribute the flour evenly across them. This process also creates extra surface area on the potatoes, ensuring they crisp up beautifully in the oven. They can be set aside until you are ready to roast them.
Cooking the potatoes in hot oil is the key to achieving a perfectly crispy finish – the oven will need roughly 10 minutes to heat up, and you should use enough oil to coat the tray generously. Take care when handling the hot oil to avoid any burns. To achieve perfectly crispy potatoes, ensuring they're evenly coated in oil is essential.
Place them on the top shelf of your oven and roast until they develop a golden, crispy exterior. This typically requires around an hour or marginally longer, remembering to turn them midway through cooking.
If you're questioning whether the flour coating is necessary, it could well be your secret weapon. Adding a light dusting of flour, or comparable ingredient, to the potatoes helps create a thicker, crunchier and more golden-brown outer layer. This works by expanding the surface area available for browning and achieving that satisfying crunch. Roughing up the potatoes after boiling represents another crucial stage.
