Recipes for oven roasted potatoes

Potatoes can be cooked in different ways. Roast potatoes are a favourite accompaniment to a meal for many people and there are literally hundreds of recipes available for this type of dish. To learn how to make roast potatoes or alternatively some flavoured ones with herbs or spices, read the guide below.

English style roasted potatoes

Perfect roast potatoes
4 lb or 1,8 kg of peeled potatoes should be enough for eight people. Use 4 oz or 110 g of dripping or lard and enough salt to sufficiently season the potatoes. Preparation
-Preheat your oven to gas mark 7, 220C or 425F.
-Use a shallow but solid roasting tin which is large enough in size to leave a single layer of potatoes.
-Cut the potatoes into even sizes.
Method
-Place the sized potatoes into a saucepan, and season and cover with water. Bring them to boil and then allow to simmer for 10 minutes. -Place the roasting tin into the oven with the dripping or lard until it has all melted. -Drain all the water from your potatoes and return to the heat. - Move the pan to avoid the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan. This action helps to make the edges of the potato obtain a crunch when they are fully roasted. Cooking
-Remove the hot tray from the oven and carefully add the potatoes to the tray while fully covering each potato in the hot fat until all the edges have been coated. -Return the tray to the oven for 45 minutes and at the end of this time, they should be golden brown in colour. -If you wish, you can turn them when they are semi-cooked even though it is recommended that they should fully colour by themselves. Serve immediately.

Variations to the basic recipe

Herb and garlic roasted potatoes
In addition to the basic recipe above, you will need 6 cloves of peeled and crushed garlic, 2 tablespoons of finely chopped sage and a few crushed red pepper flakes. There is no need to parboil the potatoes for this recipe. You just have to mix all the prepared ingredients together in a bowl before placing them in an even flat layer on your roasting tin. Cook for around one hour by turning the potatoes at the halfway stage. Once they are cooked and have an even brown colour, you can then serve immediately. Peppers and cheese
Another variation to the basic recipe is to add chopped bell peppers to the potatoes when they are some ten minutes away from being fully cooked. Once this stage is completed, add crumbled pieces of blue cheese to melt into the oven roasted potatoes just before serving.