Roasting potatoes should be considered an art form. You want them to be soft and mash-ey at the center and golden and crispy on the outside. This balance is not easy to achieve but butter is here to help us. This recipe for butter, garlic, pancetta and parmesan roasted potatoes will blow your mind with their smell, texture and flavour.
Just look at that! What’s not to love? There are a few more ingredients than the ones listed in the title and they all play an important role. Thyme adds freshness (much needed in recipes with butter). The paprika and cayenne pepper add smokiness. Salt and pepper… well, they do what they always do.
You know I’m an all thyme fan of thyme (yes, grammar police, I did that on purpose!). I like it so much I got it tattooed on my ankle last year! This is no joke, it’s there you guys. I wanted to get a kitchen-inspired tattoo without necessarily getting a knife or whisk. It’s really my favourite herb so it suits the purpose. I hope I don’t hate it in the future ?.
These butter, garlic, pancetta and parmesan roasted potatoes are a good match to any protein. They’re so good and tasty it really doesn’t matter if it’s chicken, beef or fish. I think it’s also a great side dish for barbecues because of that light smokiness. Oh and if you love carbs like me feel free to check out my other potato recipes.
Ingredients
- 1 kg new potatoes quartered
- 4 cloves garlic minced, pressed or finely grated
- 75 g pancetta sliced
- 40 g parmesan cheese Grana Padano or Pamigiano Reggiano, freshly grated
- 1 tsp salt
- to taste pepper
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme leaves only
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper (skip if you don’t like spicy food)
- 100 g unsalted butter melted
Instructions
- Place the pancetta slices one next to the other in an oven dish or on a baking tray lined with baking paper. The baking paper is not a must but it helps to clean up after.
- Place the pancetta in a preheated oven at 180C for 10-15min or until throughly golden. Let it cool down and chop.
- Mix everything together throughly and place in an oven-safe dish. Try to have the potatoes only one layer high throughout.
- Cook in a preheated oven at 180C / 350F for 30-45min or until they offer no resistance when you put a think knife through them. Mix carefully every 10min.
- Return it to the oven this time at 230C / 450F for 5-10min or until nicely golden.
