Potatoes roasted with garlic and rosemary

Another simple dish which goes nicely with the pork fillet and Parma ham dish just posted.  And with other dishes as well.

What you’ll need for 4 people:

• Waxy potatoes such as the Charlotte variety with skin left on.  How many spuds?  If you think 114g/4oz per guest is sufficient then go with that but if you think you should serve more perhaps 170g/60z per guest.  Don’t worry if you have any left over, they’ll be just as delicious cold.
• 1 – 2 bulbs of garlic
• Sprigs of fresh rosemary (but if you can’t get hold of any, dried will be fine too)
• Olive oil
• Salt – sea salt/coarse salt if you have it

What you’ll need do:

• Pre-heat your oven to 200C/392F
• Split the garlic bulbs into individual cloves ensuring that all the papery outer skin is removed but the actual skin left on each clove.
• Give the potatoes a quick rinse in cold water.  Or don’t bother if you don’t want to.  I often don’t!
• Pop the potatoes into a roasting tin.  Throw in the garlic cloves (as many or as few as you like but do remember that once they have been roasted the flavour will be mellow and creamy so the more the better – yum yum!)
• Sprinkle salt over the potatoes and garlic.
• Slug some olive oil over the contents of the pan and throughly coat the spuds and garlic in the oil.
• Put the sprigs of rosemary on top.  If you are using dried rosemary use sparingly (dried herbs are stronger in flavour than fresh) and put in with the salt so it will be mixed along with the olive oil.

  

• Pop the roasting tin into the oven and roast for around 40 minutes.  NB If the potatoes are on the smaller side then I would recommend that you test the potatoes after about 25- 30 minutes.   You don’t want them charred and shrivelled nor too the garlic which may end up tasting bitter if burned.  Oh yes, test by sticking the point of a small sharp knife into a potatoes the same as you would testing to see if a boiled potato is done.
• Once cooked turn out the potatoes and garlic into a serving dish discarding the rosemary sprigs along the way and present to your admiring guest. Tra-la!