A Year of Favorites: Lemony Smashed Roasted Potatoes
Potatoes are on weekly rotation in our house. It took me a long time to get to love them again after spending a semester at St. Andrews in Scotland (potatoes for every meal!), but now we’ve made peace. My favorite way to prepare them is by roasting them until the skins are crispy and the insides are nice and soft. Sometimes I even smash them, like I did here, so they turn into delicious crispy circles with creamy interiors.
The jist of this recipe is simple. I boil the potatoes until soft, gently smoosh them with a meat tenderizer, then slip them in the oven to crisp up. For flavorings I keep it simple with salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon zest. There is nothing fussy about them, they are just purely delicious roast potatoes. Just about anything you make will go smashed roasted potatoes so pull these into your regular rotation and, I promise, they’ll become a staple in your house, too.
Ingredients
- 1 pound new potatoes
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
- While the oven is preheating, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the potatoes. Boil them for about 20 minutes, or until they can be speared through with a fork. Drain well.
- Transfer the potatoes to the lined rimmed baking sheet and use a meat tenderizer, or another heavy, flat-bottomed tool to flatten the potatoes until they are about 1-inch thick. Do this gently so the insides of the potato won't spurt everywhere.
- Drizzle the potatoes with olive oil and add salt and pepper and make sure they are all coated with everything. Slide the potatoes into the oven and roast for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the sheet from the oven and carefully flip them. Return them to the oven and roast again until browned and crispy.
- When the potatoes come out of the oven immediately toss them with the lemon zest and serve.
I have discovered that if, after roasting jacket potatoes (UK speak for baked potatoes) you pick them up and smash them into a plate before cutting open, they are very fluffy. I always rub the skins with oil or butter before baking.