Roasted Italian Potatoes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Do I have to boil potatoes before roasting them? ›

Do I have to boil potatoes before roasting? Not necessary but this can help get the perfect consistency and crispiness. Make sure you boil them but leave them a bit al dente and they will crisp up perfectly in the oven.

Patate al forno (Italian Oven Roasted Potatoes)

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

Preheat the fat. While the potatoes parboil, add the oil or butter to the roasting pan, transfer it to the warm oven, and heat it for about 5 minutes before adding the potatoes. This allows the outside of the potatoes to crisp up nicely and not just absorb the cold fat when you put them in the oven.

Boiling your potatoes for a little bit before roasting helps make sure that you get that beautiful crisp crust on the outside. If you don't parboil your spuds, the outside skin will remain quite tough, meaning that whatever fat you use will not be able to get inside the cracks.

Russet potatoes will produce crisper crusts and fluffier centers. Yukon Golds will be slightly less crisp and have creamier centers, with a darker color and deeper flavor. You can also use a mix of the two. The potatoes should be cut into very large chunks, at least 2 to 3 inches or so.

Aside from being served mashed, fried, boiled, or roasted as a side dish, in Italy potatoes are also shown the limelight when made into tasty potato gnocchi, crispy potato croquettes, or mixed with ham and mozzarella for the rustic Napolitan gattò di patate.

And potatoes are even more confusing: you can both roast and bake a potato, but a roast potato aims for crispiness, while a baked potato aims for softness.

q.b. is an acronym commonly used in Italian recipes. These two little letters stand for quanto basta, meaning “as much as needed.” It's often used to indicate that there is no set amount of say, salt, in a recipe—it's up to you to decide based on your personal taste!

Use parchment paper– non stick foil, or baking sheets will not do the trick. Parchment paper allows the potatoes to roast without sticking!

Is it better to season potatoes before or after cooking? ›

We tasted the potatoes and agreed that post-salting is better than pre-salting. Salting before or after clearly makes a difference. The outside of the post-salted potatoes is more crispy and has a nice bite to it, whereas the outside of the pre-salted potatoes is tough and leathery.

Some people suggest that you leave your boiled spuds to dry overnight before you roast. This is because the best crunch is the result of the driest potato hitting the hot fat.

Neutral, low-cost oil such as vegetable oil, canola oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, corn oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, etc., work well for roasting. These oils have a high smoke point, allowing the potatoes to get very hot to achieve maximum crispiness.

Parboil the Potatoes First

Parboiling helps soften the potato insides before the roasting begins, so you won't be tempted to burn the outsides in exchange for less undercooked insides. Boil the potato chunks for eight to 10 minutes—they won't be fully cooked, but they'll be ready for the next step.

The acid in the vinegar can also help to slightly break down the surface of the potatoes, aiding in the development of a crispier texture during frying. Additionally, the vinegar can contribute to a golden-brown color on the exterior of the fries.

You don't need to, but if you like really crispy potatoes, there's a method that requires a few minutes of pre-cooking. Basically, you put the potatoes into already boiling water for a few minutes to soften up the outside.

A general rule of thumb is to parboil potatoes until they are fork-tender but not falling apart, this can range anywhere from 15 minutes for small potatoes to 25-30 minutes for large whole potatoes.

The par steam / boil is to make sure they're cooked well, then roasted. If your potatoes are small enough the straight roast works. I also have done 375 F for half an hour without boiling and then turned the oven up to 425 for the 15 minutes to get a similar crispy outside, soft inside potato.

Parboiling potatoes allows you to get crispy roasted potatoes that have a nice crust on the outside while being soft on the inside. Some people confuse parboiling with blanching, but in fact these are two separate cooking methods with two different uses!