Laiik Makes Greek Food: Patates tou Fournou
These are the easiest (and potentially the best) Greek roasted potatoes you've ever made yourself. So grab your Greek sandals, head to the market for fresh ingredients, and come make Greek food with us.
Greek roasted potatoes are a family tradition at the Theros household, and no one keeps the flame of golden, crisp, moist, lemony "Patates Tou Fournou" alive like our co-founder, Niko. For this month's Kalo Mina recipe, Niko whipped up a batch of his famous potatoes. Along the way, he's tweaked his recipe so that all of us can make perfectly roasted, error-proof potatoes in your home oven in under an hour. So easy and good, they can be eaten as a meal themselves or as an accompaniment to any meat or fish dish.
Recipe
Ingredients:
2-4 lbs Russet or standard white potatoes (depending on how hungry you are)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon
1 to 2 tbsp oregano (depending on taste and amount of potatoes)
1-2 tsp sea salt (Niko says, be generous)
1 tbsp sweet paprika
Pepper to taste
Kitchen equipment you'll need:
Potato Peeler
Oven
Bowl
Cookie Sheet
Parchment Paper (optional)
Method:
1) Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
2) Peel your potatoes and immerse the peeled potatoes in a bowl filled with cool or room temperature water.
3) Once peeled, cut the potatoes into long wedges about 1/2 inch thick. If they're too long you can cut each wedge in half.
4) Return to the bowl of water and let sit 5 minutes, or up to 30 minutes.
5) Drain the water from the bowl and immediately toss generously with olive oil. Squeeze the juice from the lemon onto the potatoes and toss.
6) Add paprika, salt, and oregano to bowl and toss. Let sit for about 5-10 minutes.
7) Arrange the potatoes onto a cookie sheet, preferably lined with parchment paper. Parchment paper will help with the baking, prevent sticking, and also aid with clean-up afterwards.
8) Stick the potatoes into the center rack of your oven and reduce heat to 400 degrees.
9) After about 25 minutes and potatoes start to get golden, take them out and turn them with spatula. If using parchment paper this will be easy; if not, make sure to use a spatula that can separate the potatoes cleanly as possible if they stick to the cookie sheet.
10) Return the potatoes to the oven and keep roasting. After another 20-30 minutes check to see that potatoes are golden and moist, with crusts well-formed along the edges and sides. Yes, the best way is to take one out and taste it -- but be careful they're hot!
If they're ready, take them out and serve! If not, check back in another five minutes :) -- they'll be done soooon.
