Oven-Baked Potato Wedges, Country-Style – Step-by-Step Recipe
Country-style potato wedges in the oven are so tasty and so easy to make. Small oval potatoes cut into chunky wedges, a little seasoning and vegetable oil – the dish could hardly be simpler. It is a side dish, and an especially good one with pan-fried meat. It is a treat too – I admit, that is exactly why we make it. And it is a lifesaver when guests turn up unannounced.
Country-style potatoes are often called village-style or peasant-style potatoes, which is fair enough. This is genuine, “proper” rural food, popular and found everywhere. Unlike everyone's favourite fried potatoes, baked wedges are lower in calories, because they need very little vegetable fat.
What sets potatoes baked this way apart is the skin. It is good for you and makes the wedges especially tasty. Potato skin is a source of vitamins and minerals, potassium and zinc above all. I read somewhere that there is even more of them in the skin than in the flesh. I was once put on a “potassium diet” and strongly urged to bake potatoes in their skins and eat them that way – very good for you.
From a culinary point of view, the potato is a key ingredient in a huge number of dishes. It can be the main component – deruny (potato pancakes), mash, crisps. Or a secondary but important one – soups, stews, gnocchi and so on. Many recipes use the tubers or their starch in place of flour. Potatoes turn up often in folk medicine too. And I have never met anyone whose grandmother did not treat a cough with the steam from boiled potato peelings.
I recommend buying small potatoes with smooth skin, 100-120 g each. They only need cutting into four, and they are easy to wash properly. Ideally, pick a variety with a high starch content.
Country-style potatoes have to bake all the way through. So do not use large pieces that are thick in cross-section. If the potatoes are small, it is enough to cut each one crosswise into four. Larger ones will have to be cut smaller. It is important to clean the potatoes thoroughly of soil and eyes. Whatever is left on them, you will have to eat. If you like, add a little finely chopped garlic right at the end of baking.
Ingredients
4-6 servings
- Potatoes (100-120 g each) 8-12
- Vegetable oil 2 tbsp
- Salt, black pepper, sweet paprika to taste
- Garlic, dill optional
Step-by-step recipe
- Country-style potato wedges in the oven are a tasty, good-looking dish that can grace a festive table. Choose nice oval potatoes without large “eyes” or damage. Keep in mind that closer to summer the flesh of potatoes may start to darken or rot. Ideally, all the potatoes should be roughly the same size.
- Wash the potatoes thoroughly with a scrubbing sponge. There should not be even a hint of soil left. Do not use damaged potatoes. Wipe the potatoes dry. Cut each one lengthwise into four. Try to keep the wedges roughly the same thickness, and cut any that are too thick in half lengthwise again. People often advise scalding the wedges with boiling water so that the spices coat them better. To be honest, I noticed no difference – see for yourself.
- Put the wedges into a large bowl. Recipes often suggest using a zip-lock plastic bag instead of a bowl. A bowl is easier for me: it is reusable and washes up easily. Salt the wedges well – the tastiest country-style potatoes in the oven come out when they are salted even more than usual and have plenty of aromatic spices. I add ground black pepper and ground sweet paprika. To taste, of course, but at least 0.5 tsp of paprika. Toss the potato wedges well so the spices are evenly distributed.
- Pour in 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and toss again. The potatoes should be coated in a film of oil, which matters for baking. Turn on the oven and heat it to 200 °C. If it has a top grill, you can bake with it on. But an ordinary oven will do the job perfectly well without one. Line a baking tray with foil greased with a small amount of vegetable oil – just a tiny bit.
- Arrange all the potato wedges on the foil skin side down. It is handy to lay them out in rows, so they are easy to transfer to a plate later. Put the tray into the well-preheated oven. How long country-style potatoes take to bake depends heavily on the oven itself. It can be anywhere from half an hour to an hour. Arm yourself with an ordinary toothpick. When you pierce a wedge, you should not feel the resistance of raw potato – much the same as testing ordinary fried potatoes for doneness.
- If you like, you can add a little garlic 5 mins before the potatoes are done. Peel a couple of cloves and chop them very finely with a knife. Do not grate them, or there will be a lot of garlic juice. Take the tray out of the oven and sprinkle the country-style potatoes with the garlic. Return to the oven for another 5 mins.
- So, the country-style potato wedges in the oven are done. All that is left is to decide how to eat them. They can be a side dish or a dish in their own right – your choice. We sometimes make them as a snack for a casual get-together with friends. They are delicious served with tomato sauce or ketchup. The wedges come out slightly crisp on the outside and like a thick mash inside.
- Do not overdo the cooking – country-style potatoes can turn out dry. Ideally, you get a crisp crust with the flesh cooked through. If for some reason you do not want to add fresh garlic, I suggest adding a pinch of dried granulated garlic along with the paprika. Transfer the wedges to a plate; you can sprinkle them with finely chopped dill. Then serve, preferably after letting the dish cool a little.
| Yield: | 4-6 servings |
| Calories: | 120 |
| Prep: | 10 mins |
| Cook: | 50 mins |
| Total: | 1 h |
| Category: | Main Dishes |
| Cuisine: | European |
| Rating: |
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4.9
(7)
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