CTV Recipes
Search Recipes
Ultimate crispy roasted potatoes with roasted garlic aioli
For me, nothing says comfort food like a pile of well-seasoned, crispy, golden brown, roasted potatoes – they’re like having French fries and mashed potatoes at the same time, and I’m here for all of it. On the flip side, there are few things more disappointing to me than a wasted opportunity to prepare them well because it’s too easy. But this recipe will solve that cooking conundrum much so that this humble dish that’s usually a supporting player just may become the star among all the dishes on your feast table.
SERVES
4
TO
6
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons sea salt
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and whacked but still whole
- 4 russet potatoes
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil, plus more as needed
- 1 head garlic
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- Sea salt, to taste
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped
- 1/2 cup Parmesan, finely grated
Directions
- Bring a pot of water to boil.
- Prepare the potatoes while the water boils by peeling them and chopping into equally sized chunks. I usually chop them into larger pieces by first cutting each in half lengthwise, then each half into four.
- Add the salt, whacked garlic cloves, and potatoes once the water is boiling. Once the water returns to a boil, cook the potatoes about ten minutes until there’s a little bit of resistance against your paring knife once inserted into the centre of a chunk.
- Prepare the oven and remaining head of garlic for roasting: Preheat oven to 400F. Trim off the top of the head of garlic to expose cloves. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with a little salt, and wrap tightly in a piece of foil. Add the three tablespoons of neutral oil to the unlined baking sheet and place on the centre rack of the oven to heat up. Also place the wrapped bulb of garlic in the oven on the same centre rack, but not on the oiled baking sheet – anywhere else there’s room.
- Drain potatoes in a colander and leave them to steam five minutes.
- Remove hot baking sheet from oven and add the potatoes to the hot oil. Toss them around to coat with oil and rough up the edges of each chunk, then lay them in a single layer with as much space around the chunks as possible – this helps with crispiness.
- Flip potatoes with a thin metal spatula after 20 minutes, then bake another 20-30 minutes roughly to complete the browning on the other sides, flipping and shaking them around a couple more times.
- Remove garlic head from oven and cool to room temperature once your kitchen is filled with its aroma – that’s usually my sign that it’s perfectly roasted. Depending on the size of your bulb it may take as long as the potatoes’ roasting time. Once cooled, squeeze out the cloves into a small bowl and mash with a fork. Add the mayonnaise, lemon juice, and salt, and stir to combine.
- Toss hot and crispy potatoes with the chopped rosemary and Parmesan once baked and serve with roasted garlic aioli on the side.
