Roast potatoes & rosemary from Polpo: A Venetian Cookbook (of Sorts) (page 203) by Russell Norman

  • potatoes
  • rosemary sprigs
  • Serves : 4-6

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • nicolepellegrini on April 06, 2025

    The method of parboiling, drying, and then roasting works great for that crispy exterior and soft/fluffy inside. I will only say to not rely on the cook times blindly - parboiling plus 45 minutes roasting would have been way too long for the potatoes I used (they were done and nicely browned/crisped in 20 minutes in my oven, after parboiling for 10 minutes.

  • Astrid5555 on September 06, 2015

    Delicious, crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside with a subtle rosemary flavor. I have tried many roast potato recipes before, but this was the first one where you parboil the potatoes before roasting them in the oven, which makes this recipe a little bit more time-consuming. Still, this will be my go-to recipe for roast potatoes in the future.

  • Breadcrumbs on April 05, 2015

    p. 103 – Perfect roast potatoes. Crispy-crunchy on the outside, tender and fluffy on the inside – no one could resist these spuds and despite the fact that I’d made a large batch, I didn’t have any leftover. These potatoes are prepared in what I think of as the British method whereby you par-boil them, then drain, let them dry off and rough them up a bit before you toss them with oil in this case (or another fat of your choosing) then roast them off. The author has you heat the oil and some rosemary on your baking sheet before adding the potatoes then turning and shaking every 15 mins until ready. My Yukon Golds were done within 30 mins. I find that sometimes rosemary can overwhelm so I didn’t bother removing my leaves from the stems and this resulted in a subtle rosemary flavour infusing the potatoes. Perfect for our tastes. This recipe served as a great reminder that taking the extra time to par-boil the potatoes really does produce a far superior result.

  • L.Nightshade on April 01, 2015

    This method was new to me. When I roast potatoes cut into bite size pieces, it only takes about 45 minutes, so I wasn’t sure about boiling them first and then roasting them. And, ultimately, mine did not come out browned and crispy looking. Too much oil? These tasted fine to me, but as Mr. NS is the crispy potato fan, I’m sure he would have preferred to eat the browned version. ETA Breadcrumbs thinks the problem was my waxy potatoes. Next time use a floury variety!

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