How to make perfect, crispy roast potatoes this festive season

EVERYONE likes a crispy roast potato with their Christmas dinner. Here is how to guarantee your serve perfect spuds on the big day.

WE ALL love crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside roast potatoes with our Christmas dinner. But how do you achieve this?

The key to cooking perfect roast spuds is all in the prep work. So before you begin, here’s what to remember to get your potatoes extra crispy.

PARBOIL THEM FIRST

Don’t cook the potato the whole way through — just boil them enough to soften them.

Then use a fork to scour them to create raised ridges that will crisp up when they are in the over. And using plenty of oil will help them become perfectly golden.

ADD SEMOLINA OR POLENTA

You can sprinkle your parboiled spuds with semolina or polenta to create an outer coating that will give them extra crunch.

USE A METAL PAN

Cook the potatoes in a metal pan rather than a glass one as metal distributes the heat better than glass will.

Roast potatoes at a high temperature. Picture: iStock

ROAST AT A HIGH TEMPERATURE

The hotter the oven, the crispier the outside of your potatoes will be. But don’t crank it up too high — that is a sure-fire way to burn them. Around 200C works well.

Alternatively, if you have other things roasting in the oven at the same time, simply put the potatoes in the hottest part of your oven.

WHAT TO DO IF YOUR POTATOES ARE TOO SOFT

Don’t panic!

Turn on your grill, remove the excess fat from the potatoes and pop them under there for a few minutes while you carve the meat and serve up the other sides. Don’t forget to turn them to crisp all sides.

The spuds will be crunchy in no time.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and is reproduced here with permission.