Roasted Potatoes with Garlic and Rosemary

The Story

Restaurant-quality roasted potatoes require two stages: a parboil to cook through the interior and roughen the surface, then a high-heat roast to shatter those roughened surfaces into a crust. Doing only the second step gives you potatoes that are crunchy and raw. The parboil is the step most home cooks skip. Don't skip it.

Instructions

1. Parboil. Halve the potatoes. Place in cold salted water, bring to a boil, and parboil for exactly 8–10 minutes — you want them slightly undercooked. Drain, then return to the hot dry pot for 2 minutes to steam off the excess moisture. Shake the pot vigorously — this roughens the surface and creates the nooks that will become crust in the oven.
2. Roast. Preheat oven to 425°F with a sheet pan inside — the hot pan jump-starts the bottom crust. Toss potatoes in olive oil and E-1 GSP. Pour onto the hot sheet pan and add smashed garlic and rosemary sprigs. Roast 30–35 minutes, flipping once at the 20-minute mark, until the cut faces are deep golden-brown and the edges have crisped. Do not crowd the pan.
3. Finish and Serve. Pull from the oven, discard the smashed garlic (it will be too dark to eat but will have flavored everything around it). Finish with flaky sea salt and chopped fresh parsley. Serve immediately while the exterior is still crackling.

Pro Tips

• Cold water, not boiling. Starting potatoes in cold water cooks them evenly from center to surface. Dropping them into boiling water cooks the outside faster than the inside.