Serves: 4 - Time:
What’s not to love about roast potatoes that are super crispy and delicately spiced? I would happily eat a bowlful of these spuds on their own (mayonnaise on the side it goes without saying) or accompanied by a crispy fried egg-à la huevos rotos. Or try them with a Sunday roast-any meat will do although I would put roast chicken top of the list. The key to optimum crispness is to get the potatoes boiled to a stage where they are pretty much cooked through but not so much that they will disintegrate. Baharat is a Middle Eastern spice mix which you can make yourself with spices including coriander, cinnamon, cloves etc. but it is available in most supermarkets and is a really useful mix to have to hand.
Ingredients
- 950g old potatoes e.g. Maris Piper, peeled and cut into 3-4 cm chunks
- 1 tablespoon fine semolina
- 1 teaspoon Baharat spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon garlic granules
- 4 tablespoons light olive oil
- 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- Maldon salt
Method
- Heat the oven to fan 200°c, mark 7. Put the potatoes in a saucepan of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and cook for about 8-10 minutes until the potatoes are almost cooked through. While the potatoes are cooking mix together the semolina, Baharat spice, cumin, paprika, thyme and garlic granules. Set aside.
- Drain the potatoes through a colander and shake them around to rough up the edges. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of the oil into a roasting tin. Add the potatoes and turn them around to coat them in oil. Sprinkle half the spice mix over the potatoes, turn the spuds over and sprinkle over the remaining spice mix. Drizzle over the remaining olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 45-50 minutes, turning the potatoes over after about 35 minutes. Sprinkle the potatoes with a little Maldon salt and serve straight away.
