Roast Tatties (almost oil free)

Roast potatoes are right up there in my hierarchy of essential foods. It’s a small list, but consists mainly of carbs if I’m completely honest – and a lot of those carbs come from potatoes in various forms.

In a somewhat feeble attempt to limit the damage to my waistline I have had to find slightly healthier ways of making my favourites, and this is not only a delicious way to prepare roast potatoes, it uses almost no oil. It’s based on a Slimming World technique, but don’t be put off if you’re fortunate enough to be a skinny-malink, these potatoes are super-crispy, extra tasty, and I could probably eat a massive plate of just them alone.

There is no real ‘recipe’ for this – it’s more of a ‘technique’.

Firstly, choose the right kind of potato – you want something that’s good for roasting. My favourite used to be Albert Bartlett, but then I found out his eldest son is apparently Master of the Hunt in his locality so they went straight into my ‘never to buy again’ list. I now look for a decent organic all-rounder, or if that’s not available I get Maris Piper. Any floury potato will work just perfectly.

I don’t normally peel my potatoes if I’m boiling them, or if I’m making crushed potatoes, but for ‘proper’ roasties they need to be peeled. Do keep those peelings though – a quick spritz of oil and a whirl in your air-fryer will produce absolutely splendid crisps!

• Heat your oven to a medium temperature – you don’t really need an exact temperature for these, just make sure it’s heated before you put your potatoes in.
• Cut your potatoes into manageable chunks and boil them for a few minutes – just long enough to soften the outside, so you don’t want them cooked completely through. Don’t be tempted to add salt at this stage – they don’t need it. Drain them, and return them to the pan. Put the lid on and shake them to roughen up the outside. This is what makes for a super crispy roastie, and this step should never be skipped.
• Make up around 300ml of stock – any kind will do, but if you have a low-sodium one, use that.
• Find yourself a shallow roasting tin – preferably one which isn’t non-stick, and which you will be able to scrub. This technique turns out gorgeous spuds, but grotty tins!
• Add your shaken potatoes to the tin, pour all the stock over the top and spray the exposed part of the potato with a little oil.
• Place in the oven and let the magic happen. Keep checking them every ten minutes or so – the stock will reduce down, and you might want to turn your potatoes over, giving them another light spray of oil.
• Once the stock has all but disappeared I usually transfer the potatoes to a different baking sheet, give them another quick spritz of oil, and finish the baking this way. If you leave them in the first pan until the stock has completely disappeared you end up with a horrible, horrible pan to clean, and usually the potatoes are welded to the bottom!
• Once they are as crispy as you’d like you’re good to go! The stock gives a lovely rich depth of flavour, but if you make it too strong to begin with it can be overpowering (hence the sodium free option if possible).