A feast won’t be complete without roast potatoes. Don’t we all feel the necessity to pair the crispy nuggets of carbohydrate with roast meat? In my opinion, this combination is a perfect marriage, no less than Posh and Beck’s. 😛
Crunchy on the outside, fluffy in the middle – we all agree this is the universal rule to good roast potatoes, no? To give potatoes some credit, they have no trouble in getting crunchy on their own. In fact, I couldn’t fault plain roast potatoes as long as they are made properly. That being said, I’ll try anything to turn their crunchiness up a notch. After all, there’s no such thing as too much crunchiness, right ladies?
{Boiled potatoes covered in polenta – ready to be fluffed to bind everything together}
Polenta-Crusted Potatoes
(adapted from Donna Hay Magazine Issue 52 Aug/Sept 2010)
Serves 4 as a side dish
Ingredients:
1kg sebago (starchy) potatoes, peeled and quartered
1/2 cup (85g) instant polenta
3 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp sea salt flakes
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius (425 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Place the potato in a large saucepan of salted cold water and bring to the boil.
3. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until just tender.
4. Drain and return to the pan with the polenta, oil and salt.
5. Shake the pan to fluff the potato and coat in the polenta.
6. Place the potato on a baking tray and roast for 30 minutes or until crisp and golden.
{Enjoy with your favourite roast: chicken, turkey, pork, beef & lamb.}
Stumble?
they look so yummy!!!!!
Thank you. I love these crunchy roast potatoes very much. I can tell you that it was a success! 😀
are they as wonderfully crispy as they look? Thanks for the idea! Theresa
Hi Theresa,
They turned out to be extremely crispy! I received many compliments and also, the roast potatoes remained crispy even when they were cold. Love it!
Holy crap, these look amazing! Would be wonderful at Thanksgiving!
Thanks for your comment, Amy. That’s the intention – for Thanksgiving. Hopefully I won’t stuff it up when I make a larger batch. 😛
They look absolutely scrumptious! I know what I’m gonna make for dinner tonight…
Hi Lau, thanks for your lovely compliment. Hope they turn out well for you. Happy eating! 🙂
Your pots look amazing. My friend did the exact same recipe a couple of years back. They were not nice! However, maybe her method was different! I may have to try your recipe, thanks.
Hi Deb, glad that you’ve enjoy the recipe. I wonder what happened to your friend’s recipe? Anyway, hopefully this recipe would be to your liking when you actually try it. 🙂
Yummo, I do a similar thing with semolina and it makes the potatoes so good. The crunchier the better!
Hi Taz, what a good idea with semolina!!! I have some semolina on hand, may try to roast potatoes with it. And yes, I agree – the crunchier the better! 😛
OMG! I have to make these today, potato heaven!!
Hi Natalie,
With this recipe, we’ll all be in potato heaven for Thanksgiving hehe! 🙂
These look so good! Is instant polenta the same as cornmeal? If not…would cornmeal work? The only polenta I have seen comes like a cake-y tube and I can cut off pieces and cook them…?
Answered my own question:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/603550
I’ll give it a try with cornmeal!
Hi Chelsea,
Sorry about the late reply. I wasn’t sure about the distinction as it’s my first time cooking with polenta and I baked some cornbread using cornmeal ages ago. But thanks for sharing the information(link). Have fun cooking! 🙂
YUM – I’m a big fan of Donna Hay! I’m not the biggest fan of polenta but I think this recipe just gave polenta a glimmer of hope to be seen on my dinner table.
I involuntarily started drooling at the sight of these crunchy little beasties! 😛