Wine & shallot roast potatoes recipe

This is the roast potato’s fancier sister, who comes home for the holidays and judges the whole family, said Poppy O’Toole. It’s rather posh – but delicious. There are a boat-load of flavours going on, but they all complement each other beautifully without any single element overpowering the rest. I’m also a big believer in minimal waste – and this dish is a great way to use up leftover wine.

Ingredients:

• 800g Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 100ml neutral oil
• 200ml white wine
• 1⁄2 shallot, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 50g butter, cubed
• 2 rosemary sprigs, leaves finely chopped
• 2 thyme sprigs, leaves finely chopped
• salt and black pepper

Method:

• Get your potatoes into a saucepan of cold water, crumble in the stock cube and season with a touch of salt. Place the pan over a high heat and bring the water to the boil. Reduce the heat and leave the potatoes on a gentle boil for 10-15 minutes, until they fall off the tip of a knife. Drain in a colander.
• Leave the potatoes in the colander, over the pan on the turned-off hob, to steam-dry with a tea towel over the top for 10-15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/475°F/Gas 9, and get the oil into a baking tray. Pop the tray in the oven to get the oil hot.
• Once the spuds have steam-dried, carefully add them to the hot oil in the baking tray. Pop the potatoes in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove the tray from the oven. Turn the heat down to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6. Give the potatoes a turn and return them to the oven for 30 minutes, until golden and crunchy. You may need less or more time, so keep an eye out.
• During the last 15 minutes of the potato roasting time, make your reduction. Get a large, high-sided frying pan (like a sauté pan) and add the wine, shallot and garlic. Place this over a high heat and bring the liquid to a rapid boil, leaving it to boil until reduced by about half. Then, reduce the heat and, little by little, whisk in the butter and chopped herbs, until you have a velvety sauce.
• Toss the potatoes in the saucy reduction and season with salt and black pepper. Enjoy!

Taken from Poppy Cooks: The Potato Book, published by Bloomsbury at £22. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £19.99, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.

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