Top News

Roast potatoes are the best comfort food side dish, no matter if you are having them with pork chops on a weekday or making them for a roast dinner at the weekend. It is quite simple to make homemade roast potatoes, but they can come out soft, soggy, and greasy if you don't cook them with the right ingredients.

Potatoes naturally contain a lot of water which turns into steam when they cook in the oven, and if this moisture stays on the skin then the oil will not be able to crisp them up properly.However, Lindsay a cook and creator of the The Tasteful Pantry, has shared there is a very easy way to ensure you get potatoes that are "crunchy every time without fail" as all you need to do is season them with semolina.Lindsay explained: "Semolina adds a gentle grainy texture that crisps up beautifully in the oven, giving the kind of crunch that ordinary roast potatoes rarely achieve.

"It's the perfect trick if you've ever struggled to get that ideal roast - crispy exterior, tender interior, and just enough spice to keep things interesting."

Semolina is a flour usually used to make pasta, bread or even pizza dough, but it is also used in roasting fish and potatoes as it is known to create a perfect crispy skin.

It is very coarse, which means it will still work well on potatoes and is also very absorbent, which means it will pull a lot of water from the skin.

This helps keep the potatoes as dry as possible when cooking in the oven, so they do not steam up and cook better in the oil.

Using semolina simply prevents the potatoes from becoming soggy and will also begin to toast in the oven so you get a perfect caramelised skin with lots of crunchy edges.

You will need:

• 1kg of potatoes
• 120ml of oil
• Two tablespoons of semolina
• One teaspoon of salt
• Half a teaspoon of garlic powder
• Half a teaspoon of onion powder
• Hal a teaspoon of oregano
• Half a teaspoon of paprika
• A quarter teaspoon of pepper

You can use whatever oil you prefer when making toast potatoes, but the best option tends to be one with a high smoke point, like sunflower, vegetable, or rapeseed oil. It is also fine to use other substances like suck fat, goose fat or beef drippings.

Method:

To begin, preheat the oven to 210C, and you will need a deep baking dish that is big enough to fit all the potatoes into a single layer.

Pour the oil into the deep dish and then place it in the oven for 10 minutes. It is important that the oil is hot before cooking the potatoes to form a crust and achieve crispier skin.

Meanwhile, peel and cut the potatoes in half. Place them into a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Let them cook for roughly 10 minutes until they are fork-tender but still hard in the middle.

Drain the potatoes, and then place them back inside the empty pot. Do not put them on the heat, but instead use a fork or tongs and gently move the potatoes around.

This roughens up the potatoes slightly so they will have more edges once they go in the oven, and helps you get a really crunchy skin.

Next, place the semolina, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, organo, paprika and pepper into a small bowl. Pour the semolina mixture over the potatoes, then shake the pot to ensure they are evenly coated.

Take the baking dish out of the oven, and then carefully add the potatoes. Use a pair of tongs to turn the potatoes so each side is coated with oil, then shake any remaining seasoning from the pot into the dish.

Bake the potatoes in the oven for 20 minutes, and once the time is up turn them over and cook for 10 more minutes.

When you take potatoes out the oven they should be sizzling. deep golden brown and with a really satisfying crispy skin.