Roasted smashed potatoes recipe

roasted smashed potatoes by pamela salzman

Everyone thinks it’s so funny when I whine that I don’t get invited much to peoples’ houses for dinner.   There is an assumption that I’m an accomplished chef and I must have such high standards for eating therefore it’s too intimidating to have me over for dinner.  Ha!  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  I’m a home cook who never went to culinary school and I don’t ever make recipes with three sauces.  I could never work in a restaurant or hotel or be on one of those shows where you have to figure out what to do with octopus and cornflakes in 20 minutes.  Just for the record, I love simple food.  I don’t need anything fancy or chef-y.  I am very easy to please as long as it’s fresh and natural.  And I’ll bet that you are as good a cook, if not better than I am.  Anyone can have a food blog, friends!

red new potatoes

What I do love is sharing recipes that work for me, because I think we’re a lot alike.  And it makes me happy if more people are cooking at home, even if I’m not invited.  Wink, wink.  These roasted smashed potatoes are my favorite kind of recipe — uncomplicated, tasty, easy and healthful.  They go with whatever I’m serving and every single person in my family loves them.  If you’ve never made smashed potatoes, you are totally missing out.   They’re both fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside and if you add enough salt, damn delicious.  I could just eat a half dozen of these and some scrambled eggs and call it a night.  If you invited me over for dinner and made these potatoes with scrambled eggs, I would be in heaven.  Yep, that’s all it takes.

pierce potato with paring knife to determine doneness

The other night at our dinner table, there were several ways to eat these.  My husband makes up for my dairy abstinence by melting cheese on everything, including these potatoes.  Mr. Picky dipped his in mustard and Daughter #2 topped hers with guacamole, salsa and sour cream.  Daughter #1 and I ate these plain and simple.  I’m going to start teaching the little miss how to make easy recipes like this because she’ll be off to college before I know it.  Sigh.  Wait, what am I talking about?  Yippee!

toss boiled potatoes in a little oil

These are divine out of the oven, but I don’t love potatoes reheated.  To do some of the work ahead of time, boil the potatoes and refrigerate them.  Then, smash them and roast them to crispy perfection.  What is great is that you’ll use the whole potato, since most of the nutrients are in the skin or just underneath the skin.  And if you follow the Body Ecology Diet, red new potatoes are the only potatoes permitted since they have the fewest sugars of any potato.  Just an FYI.  Of course, most of you are not on the Body Ecology Diet, so use whatever baby potatoes you can get your hands on, like Yukon Golds.

arrange the potatoes evenly spaced apart

put another baking sheet on top to flatten potatoes

press down on the baking sheet to flatten the potatoes

When I taught in France last year, I did some roasted potatoes in duck fat, which I know doesn’t sound healthful, but to be honest, I think animal fats can be good to cook with at high temperatures, unless you’re a vegetarian.  Unsaturated fats (vegetable oils) can oxidize at high temperatures (above 350 degrees) which create free radicals.  Yuck!  Those are pro-inflammatory compounds that will age you from the inside out.  Saturated fats don’t do that.  Listen, I use olive oil at higher temperatures sometimes if it’s the only fat that works, but you’re better off with coconut oil, ghee or duck fat, in this case.  Do what you’re comfortable with because you’ll love these no matter what!

roasted smashed potatoes by pamela salzman

roasted smashed potatoes by pamela salzman

Roasted Smashed Potatoes

Pamela
4.50 from 2 votes
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Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 2 pounds baby potatoes such as red-skinned or Yukon Gold (about 15-18)
  • 1 Tablespoon kosher salt for boiling the potatoes
  • 4 Tablespoons fat of choice divided (e.g. olive oil, duck fat, or ghee)
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or rosemary
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Scrub the potatoes and place them in a large pot with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt.  Fill the pot three-fourths with cold water.   Place the pot on the stove over high heat.  Bring the water to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 20-25 minutes.  You should be able to insert the tip of a paring knife easily into the center of a potato.
  • Drain the potatoes in a colander and shake to get off as much moisture as possible.  Place the potatoes back into the pot and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of oil.  Roll them around to coat with the oil.
  • Arrange the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet and evenly space them apart from each other.  Take another large rimmed baking sheet and position it right on top of the potatoes and press down, smashing the potatoes to about a half inch thick.  Remove the top baking sheet.
  • Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil on top of the potatoes and sprinkle with the chopped thyme and salt and pepper.
  • Bake until potatoes are golden and crisp.  I took them out after 30 minutes, but you can go much longer if you want them really crispy.  Serve hot or warm.
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Zucchini-potato latkes

So what does a nice Italian girl from New York make for her nice Jewish husband for Hanukkah?  Zucchini-potato latkes, of course!  Believe me, you don’t have to celebrate Hanukkah to enjoy these little patties.  Grated potatoes mixed with a little onion and lots of fresh zucchini all fried to crispiness.  Mr. Picky has declared that this is the only way he’ll eat zucchini.  So be it.  But uh oh.  That fried bit does make latkes an “occasional” food, which is why we only indulge in them a mere once or twice a year.  Even though frying is a rather unhealthful way to cook, I’ll do it since the latkes are so much more tasty that way.

What’s funny about my education in latke-making is that I learned what I know from an unlikely source — my Puerto Rican mother-in-law, who also did not grow up Jewish.  Darn that woman can make the best latkes in the world!  Although she wouldn’t dare put in any zucchini or sweet potatoes in hers, I have accumulated some great tips from her that I will share here:

  • Russet or Idaho baking potatoes have the highest starch content and the lowest moisture content, which is good for making crispy latkes. But Yukon Gold (medium starch) work great, too.
  • Wear disposable gloves so your hands don’t smell like potatoes and onions for a day.
  • Squeeze out excess water from the potatoes — again helps to keep them crispy and keep them from falling apart.
  • Use the shredding disc on the food processor to make this job a breeze.  I also shred my onions (and zucchini), but my mother-in-law chops the onions and pulses them with the metal blade to avoid getting any big pieces.
  • Don’t make them too big.  The interiors won’t get fully cooked and they may not hold their shape well.
  • Fry them in an inch of oil — this helps to get all sides crispy so they don’t fall apart.  (I can’t bring myself to cook in that much oil and that’s one reason my mother-in-law’s latkes are better than mine.)
Whatever you celebrate, here’s hoping your holidays are happy!

Zucchini-Potato Latkes

Pamela
5 from 2 votes
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Ingredients
  

  • 2 pounds medium zucchini about 6, ends trimmed
  • 1 ½ pounds Russet potatoes about 2, peeled or unpeeled, and cut to fit a food processor
  • 2 medium yellow onions peeled and quartered
  • 3 large eggs lightly beaten
  • 1 Tablespoon sea salt
  • A few grinds of black pepper
  • ½ - ¾ cup panko bread crumbs or matzo meal
  • Olive oil for frying or a refined peanut oil or grapeseed oil has a higher smoke point, although not exactly healthful

Instructions
 

  • Shred the zucchini in a food processor fitted with the shredding attachment and place in a colander over a large bowl (my preferred method.) Toss with 1 tablespoon kosher salt and allow to drain for 30 minutes. Call your kids to the kitchen so they can watch the next step. Place the zucchini in a kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. There's a ton! Do not add salt to the mixture again. Or shred the zucchini with the potatoes and onions. You will get out more moisture though if you salt them first.
  • In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the shredding attachment, shred the potatoes and onions. Again, squeeze out as much liquid as humanly possible. Let the mixture rest for a minute and squeeze again.
  • Place all the shredded vegetables in a large bowl. Add the eggs, salt (do not add if you salted the zucchini early), pepper and bread crumbs to the vegetables and combine well.
  • Heat the oil (I use olive) in 2 large skillets until hot, but not smoking. An inch of oil will give you the best results.
  • Using about 2-3 tablespoons of the zucchini-potato mixture, form the latkes into 2 ½-inch pancakes. Flatten slightly and carefully place into the pan. When the edges are brown and crisp, turn them over and continue cooking until deep golden. I usually flatten them slightly in the pan when I flip.
  • Lay paper towels on a cooling rack or brown paper bag. Transfer the latkes from the pan to the rack. Sprinkle with sea salt if desired. Serve immediately with applesauce or sour cream (if you must).

Notes

TO BAKE LATKES:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush a baking sheet with oil. Place formed (raw) latkes on baking sheet and brush tops with oil. Bake 10-15 minutes, or until undersides are golden. Flip latkes and bake another 10-15 minutes until golden on both sides. They won’t be as crispy as the traditional, but a good alternative if you don’t like to fry.
TO FREEZE AND REHEAT LATKES:
Cook, cool and freeze immediately. Reheat at 425 degrees for 10 minutes or until heated through.
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