Oven Roasted New Potatoes with Garlic and Hot Pepper
A delicious summer side dish, roasted new potatoes are something you can't make often or at any time of year. The season starts suddenly and ends very quickly. This side goes perfectly with meat and fish, and it's wonderful with fried wild mushrooms. There's no need to peel the potatoes – just wash them well and dry off any drops of water.
You can cook them on the stovetop or in the oven. What matters is that the potatoes are coated with a film of vegetable oil: its contact with the hot pan is what makes them fry. At the same time you can roast cloves of young garlic, sweet and hot peppers, and small onions. Season the potatoes with coarse salt and, if you like, add fragrant herbs – they won't burn, and the aroma will be wonderful.
Pickles to serve with
Ingredients
2 servings
- New potatoes (medium-sized) 8-10
- Hot pepper (optional) 1
- Young garlic (optional) 1 head
- Vegetable oil 2 tbsp
- Salt, paprika to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- The tastiest roasted new potatoes come from tubers no bigger than a hen's egg, with skins that peel off very easily. You can bake and roast them skin-on. As a nice bonus, we roast 1-2 hot green peppers at the same time – we love them. Plus a head of young garlic, separated into unpeeled cloves. For roasting we use refined, odorless sunflower oil.
- Wash the potatoes under running water, carefully removing any remaining soil. Then dry them so no drops of water are left. Try not to rub the potatoes too hard, so the thin skin doesn't come off. It's better not to use damaged tubers – save them for dishes that call for peeled potatoes.
- Put the prepared potatoes in a deep bowl and add the unpeeled garlic cloves and whole hot peppers, if using. Add 0.5 tsp of coarsely ground sweet paprika and season generously with coarse salt. The moisture left on the potatoes is enough to partly dissolve the salt. Add 2 tbsp of sunflower oil and mix well.
- For roasting potatoes in the oven, a steel skillet with a handle is handy – it's also called an “Alpine” pan. By the way, lots of tasty dishes are cooked in exactly this kind of pan. Put the prepared potatoes and vegetables into the skillet, spreading everything over the bottom in a single layer. No need to cover with a lid.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C and put the potatoes in to roast. The cooking time depends a lot on the size of the potatoes. Usually, if they're small, roasted new potatoes take 30-35 mins. Stir them during roasting and make sure they stay coated with a film of vegetable oil. Checking for doneness is very easy – pierce a potato with a toothpick. If it goes in easily, without resistance, it's done.
- Then take the skillet out of the oven and serve the potatoes however you planned. If you made them as a side, transfer them to a plate and add meat or fish. They're also a delicious dish on their own – a side dish that needs no main, so to speak. Before serving, you can sprinkle the potatoes with finely chopped herbs or green onion. You can even bring them to the table right in the skillet they were roasted in.
- If you like, add a sprig of fresh rosemary or thyme and a pinch of nutmeg before roasting. If the potatoes are large, the cooking time can increase considerably. In that case, it's worth parboiling them first and only then roasting.
Yield: 2 servings Calories: 130 kcal per 100 g Prep: 15 mins Cooking: 45 mins Ready in: 1 h Category: Main Dishes › Vegetables and Mushrooms Cuisine: Italian cuisine Rating: