We’re back with another recipe from the Argent family archives! Most families have one person who makes the best roast potatoes. Unfortunately for you, that person isn’t me – it’s my dad! But I think I’ve learned enough from him to present you with roast potatoes that are crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside with a delicious sticky and fragrant crust!
We didn’t have much left in our cupboard but potatoes and a pre-zested lemon. So, I added some crushed garlic, lemon segments and dried herbs for extra flavour. Topped with a little salt and a sprinkle of maple syrup and you have the perfect roasted potato!
What can I expect from these roast potatoes?
First, we’ll prepare the potatoes then mix them in the roasting pan with the oil, garlic, rosemary, lemon segments and seasoning. We’ll then roast the potatoes until they are almost fully cooked. At that point, we’ll drizzle over the maple syrup and place back in the oven for the final roast. The reason we don’t just add the maple syrup at the start is because of caramelisation. The sugar in the maple syrup would caramelise much faster than the potatoes would take to cook. As a result, the potatoes would be burnt on the outside and uncooked on the inside – so, in the words of Craig Revel Horwood, a dis-aaahster!
Instead, we will fully cook the potatoes so that they’re nice and roasted on the outside and perfectly cooked on the inside. In fact, if you’d rather skip the maple syrup step, you can go ahead and eat the potatoes right then and there. If you’d like to add a bit of sweet to the salt, then add the maple syrup. You’ll see the skin of the potatoes turn into the most delicious caramelised, amber colour. As the sugar cools and hardens slightly, you’ll also add an extra layer of crunch. Basically, a win-win all around.
As an extra note, don’t skimp on the oil. The potatoes soak the oil up really quickly. We need the oil to aid the roasting process. If you think the potatoes aren’t roasting as much as they should, just add another tablespoon of oil, stir well and they should crisp up in no time!
Do let us know how you get on and if there are any recipes you’d like us to cook up! You can view step-by-step video guides of all my quarantine cooking over on our Instagram stories.
Let’s get a-roasting!
Lemon Roasted Potatoes
Equipment
- Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper
- Knife
- Chopping Board
- Saucepan
Ingredients
- 1.25 kg Floury Potatoes e.g. Maris Piper
- 8 Cloves Garlic
- 2-3 Branches Fresh Rosemary (or 2 tsp Dried Rosemary)
- 1 Lemon
- 6-7 tbsp Oil (Vegetable or Olive)
- 1 tbsp Maple Syrup (Optional)
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside. Pro Tip: If the parchment paper won’t lay flat, scrunch up the paper first and then line the tray!
- Peel the potatoes and chop them into rough chunks.
- Fill a large pan with cold water and lightly season with salt. Add the potato pieces and bring the water to the boil. Boil for 5 minutes.
- While the potatoes are cooking, peel the garlic cloves. The easiest way to do this is by chopping off both ends first, then by peeling off the skin. Crush the garlic cloves by placing the flat side of your knife over the clove and now bash the knife with the heel of your hand. (Check out our insta stories for a more detailed way of doing this safely!) Set aside.
- Cut the lemon into segments and set aside. The lemon I used was already zested but you can use un-zested lemons as well.
- Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain. Place them in the baking tray.
- Add the oil, garlic, lemon, rosemary, salt & pepper to the potatoes. Toss together to make sure the potatoes are fully coated in oil.
- Place in the oven at 220°C/425°F for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes of roasting, take the tray out and give the potatoes a stir, place them back in the oven for a further 20 minutes.
- Stir the potatoes again and roast for another 20 minutes.
- After a total of 1 hour of roasting, remove the tray from the oven and drizzle over the maple syrup and return to the oven for a final 10-15 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
