Slow Roasted Greek Potatoes

Put your hand up if you love potatoes! The humble potato is quite simply my favorite vegetable. I adore them in any way shape or form. You could take away my chocolate and I might be a bit miffed with you, but don't ever try to take away my potatoes. I would be very unforgiving of you if you did!

This slow roasted Greek Potato recipe I am sharing with you today is one of my favorite ways of preparing them. They always end up melt in the mouth tender, with beautiful flavors and golden edges.

They also basically cook themselves. Its true. With a tiny bit of basic prep, you pop then into a slow oven and let the oven do all the work! I love recipes that cook themselves. Not that I am lazy, but anything that isn't so hands on leaves me with plenty of time to get on with other things.

I adapted this delicious recipe from one I found on a blog called Sprinkles and Sprouts. I made just a few changes, but for the most part I left everything the same. I have included both North American and European measurements for your convenience.

We didn't get a lot of roasted potatoes in our home when I was growing up. In fact, I can honestly say my mother never roasted potatoes. If we had potatoes, which we did often, they were mostly boiled, or mashed.

Once in a blue moon she would make fried potatoes for us. She would use leftover cold boiled potatoes for this. She would thinly slice them and then fry them in hot butter until they were crisp and golden brown all over.

I can still see her cooking them, back bent over the stove, two pans of butter and potatoes going as she gently flipped them over, gilding them to brown buttery perfection.

Oh how we loved those. She could never make enough of them to satisfy us. We would have eaten them as long as she was willing to fry them. They were a true labor of love from a mother to her children. What I wouldn't give to be able to have her still here to make them for us.

I dare say I wouldn't want her to waste her time frying us potatoes! I can think of much better things that we could do together! Oh how I miss her. I don't think you ever get over the loss of your mother.

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SLOW ROASTED GREEK POTATOES

I bet you have everything in your kitchen that you need to make these delicious potatoes right now!

2 1/2 pounds (1.25kg) smallish potatoes, don't peel
¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
½ cup (120ml) lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1 cup (240ml) vegetable or chicken stock
1 tablespoon lemon zest (I cut the lemons I juiced into 1 inch pieces)
8 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
½ tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 tsp coarse black pepper

I recommend using an all purpose floury type of potato for these. Something like a King Edward, a Maris Piper, Russet, or Yukon Gold. These will absorb everything beautifully. A waxier potato won't absorb as much of the stock/lemon juice.

You can use fresh oregano if you want to. You will need roughly twice as much. Personally, I think it is a waste to use fresh herbs in something like this and would save them for a garnish.

I chose to cut the spent lemons into chunks rather than to grate the zest. They added extra interest and a pop of color to the dish. Also the flavors were amazing. Lemon really mellows out quite a bit when it cooks.

I also chose to chop the garlic coarsely rather than slice it. It does sound like a lot of garlic, and you could certainly use less. But garlic also really mellows out and takes on a bit of sweetness when it is roasted low and slow like it is in these potatoes.

I added some lemon wedges as a garnish. I thought that they would help dress up the dish and people could have the option of squeezing more of the juice over their potatoes if they wished to do so.

I also added some coarse black pepper. Potatoes, lemons and black pepper are a brilliant combination. I love coarse pepper when it comes to cooking dishes like this one. You don't need a lot.

HOW TO MAKE SLOW ROASTED GREEK POTATOES

These are really quite simple to make. You know me, I don't do complicated if I can help it. I had enough of that when I cooked at the Manor. In my personal life I like to keep things as simple as I can!

Preheat oven to 340ºF/170ºC/gas mark 4. Have ready a large shallow baking dish or roasting tin.

Wash the potatoes well, dry, and then cut into chunks. (I don't peel them) (Keeping the peels on adds interest and helps them to hold together.)

Pour the olive oil, lemon juice, chicken stock, lemon pieces, chopped garlic cloves, oregano, salt and black pepper into the baking dish. Whisk together to combine.

Add the potatoes into the mixture and mix gently with your hands.

Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and roast the potatoes for 70 minutes. Remove from the oven. Discard the foil and give them a gentle stir. Return to the oven uncovered for a further 10 minutes until done.

When done the potatoes should be soft and lightly golden brown, maybe even caramelized in some places. Most of the liquid will have evaporated. Serve hot alongside your favorite protein.

These were really REALLY delicious! I served them with some salmon and broccoli. They go really well with fish. I would think that they also go very well with Lamb or chicken also!

I cooked the full recipe and will enjoy some as a hash later this week. I think they would be brilliant fried up with some onions and leftover meat. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

I really hope you will give them a go! I think if you do you are going to fall in love with them! Especially if you like the flavors of lemon, garlic and herbs!

Some other potato recipes here in The English Kitchen that you might enjoy are:

ALL DRESSED BLOOMIN' BAKED POTATOES - I saw a few recipes for these bloomin' potatoes that looked really good. I thought I could improve on them by combining them with a recipe I have been making for years for potato wedges. The end result was quite simply fabulous. Petal cut potatoes, brushed with a scrumptious butter mixture, baked until crisp and served with your favorite toppings.

POTATOES O'BRIEN - This is a pretty basic version of fried potatoes, using only salt and pepper as seasoning. You could also add garlic powder and or paprika. I added some paprika. I like the color it adds to potatoes when you are frying them. This is basically a potato hash using raw potato. You peel and dice raw potatoes, and add them to some hot fat, along with chopped onion and the seasoning. It makes for a really delicious side dish!

Yield: 4

Author: Marie Rayner