Heather says:
Tri-color roasted potatoes. Pretty? Yes. Delicious? You bet.
Is the recipe simple?
Totally.
Company worthy?
Yes.
This year I’m doing an American-Italian twist on recipes in the Countdown to Turkey Day Example menu. While I still plan on getting traditional mashed potatoes added to the recipe index, I thought this simple, but beautiful recipe for tri-color potatoes would be a great addition. As a bonus, roast potatoes are so simple, even the most novice cook can handle the recipe without fear. It’s a simple side dish that brings a lot of visual impact to a guest worthy meal without a lot of work.
Since this is a dish intended for its impressive factor, I use the par-boil method to roast the potatoes.
: Tri-Color Roasted Potatoes
: Three colors of potatoes are roasted and seasoned to make a great side dish
- Purple or blue potatoes
- red new potatoes
- white new potatoes
- olive oil
- kosher or sea salt
- fresh ground pepper
- rosemary or other main-dish-complementary-herb* optional
- fresh, grated parmesan **NOT OPTIONAL, due to the AWESOME
- Scrub the potatoes thoroughly.
- Cut the potatoes, without peeling into approximately the same size, many of the smaller potatoes will only need to be cut in half while the larger red and white new potatoes may need to be quartered.
- Place the potatoes in cold, salted water, and bring to a boil.
- Once the water is boiling, turn it down to a simmer.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F
- Simmer until just fork tender -you can easily stick a fork partway into the potato -somewhere in the 10 – 15 minute range.
- Grease a baking sheet.
- Drain the potatoes and toss with olive oil, then spread in a single layer over the baking sheet.
- Sprinkle with salt, optional herb, and black pepper.
- Bake at 425°F for 30 – 45 minutes until the outsides just start to brown. Then sprinkle with fresh grated parmesan.
- Admire the view, then enjoy.
Questions?
I purposely did not include amounts. Know that, as long as it’s a side dish in a meal that has several options, you should estimate 1lb of potatoes for every three people.
Water amount? Enough to cover the potatoes. Salt, pepper, and herbs? To taste. Olive oil? Just enough to lightly coat the potatoes. Got it?
Great!
As a bonus, this recipe is naturally gluten free. Whee!
I’ve made this before–though I don’t par-boil mine cause that’s weird–and this is such a simple side to whip up and people always assume it’s a lot more difficult that it is so you end up looking like a rockstar.
Actually the finished texture will be slightly different if you don’t parboil. I prefer the texture if you do precook the potatoes, but if you’d rather not dirty the extra pot just microwave them before you cut them up and toss in olive oil.
I use a manual oil sprayer to coat veggies to be roasted with a light spray of olive oil. For a flavor bonus, try using olive oil that has been infused with garlic or herbs. You can make your own flavored oils, too, cheaply and easily. The oil helps the herbs and cheese stick to the veggies better.
I recently found a stand at a lcoal farmers market that sells herb infused olive oil and vinegar. I’m not a huge vinegar fan but I bought two bottles of the garlic olive oil and I have used it for everything from grilled cheese (spray on the bread instead of buttering it) to pasta sauce.
How much salt goes in the ‘salted water’ or does it make a big difference?
It’s a to taste thing. I generally add about a tsp per quart, sometimes less, sometimes more.
If you’re watching your sodium intake, you can definitely skip this.
On the other hand I read a fascinating study fairly recently said that a low sodium diet will only temporarily lower blood pressure, the human body readjusts after a period of weeks. (Obviously defer to your doctor with a situation like this, I’m just a nerd on the net)
We pretty much make roast potatoes in a similar way – par-boiling first (although I’ll admit using the microwave if I am really in a hurry to make a meal before going to work), and putting the potato pieces into a tray, adding some black pepper, and olive oil.
Here we pretty much use olive oil (just the regular stuff not EVO), when cooking.
What we haven’t tried are the tri-color and the Parmesan options. That’s on the list for next time. It does look pretty darn awesome!
That is gorgeous! And looks delish.
Can you make this a day ahead and reheat in the microwave> If not, can you serve cold or warm?
I’ve eaten them straight out of the refrigerator. They will be different that way, but I like them.