Love buttery roast potatoes? Well, wait until you've had them SMASHED! Riddled with crispy little bits you'll never get with ordinary roasted spuds, they're crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and wonderfully buttery.

Try to resist the temptation to munch them straight off the tray, just on their own. They're intended to be a side dish that will elevate any meal and frankly steal the show.

Crispy smashed potatoes

For optimum crisp factor aim to make the potatoes raggedy and nubbly when you smash them. This is not the time for neat and tidy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1-1.2kg potatoes (6 to 8 medium sized), skin on
• 1 tbsp salt (for boiling water)
• 30g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• about ¾ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp chopped parsley (or 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves)

METHOD

1. Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with 10cm of water and add salt. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Partially cover with a lid and boil for 25 minutes or until they offer no resistance when a knife is inserted into the centre. Don't worry if the skin splits.
2. Halfway through boiling, preheat oven to 180C fan-forced (200C conventional).
3. Drain potatoes then transfer to a baking tray. Using a "S" curve potato masher or two forks, smash the potatoes so they're 1½–2cm thick. If the potatoes split, don't worry, just push them together. Aim for raggedy surfaces – it means more crispy bits.
4. Leave potatoes on the tray for 10 minutes to steam dry – this makes them crispier. Then drizzle over butter and oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. Roast for 40-55 minutes or until deeply golden and crispy on the top and underside. Do not flip!
6. Remove from oven, sprinkle with parsley or thyme and serve immediately.

Serves 6-8 as a side

Notes:

• Waxy potatoes will yield crispier outsides, and starchy potatoes will be fluffier inside (but still crispy!). For a good balance of fluffy/crispy, I like using all-rounders such as sebago (those common dirt brushed potatoes you find everywhere).
• Adding garlic is tempting. But resist. It will burn at the high temperature. Nobody likes burnt bits of garlic on their spuds.
• I've been known to finish with a sprinkle of parmesan just before serving. It's been received well.
• I have also been known to drizzle the finished spuds with extra melted butter. This too has been received very well!

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