Nigella Lawson's Salt & Vinegar Potatoes
“While steaming then roasting potatoes may seem rather a fandango, one bite of these will convince you that it’s utterly worth it; besides, it’s not as if you have to do anything while they either steam or roast,” says Nigella Lawson.
“Go slowly when adding the salt and vinegar, tasting as you go, as I like these to have the wincing hit of salt and vinegar crisps, and you may prefer a lighter hand with the sprinkling.”
Ingredients:
500 grams baby new potatoes (serves 2)
3 x 15ml tablespoons regular olive oi
2½ teaspoons raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar (or to taste)
1½ teaspoons sea salt flakes (or to taste)
Method:
Steam the baby new potatoes until tender (this takes 20 – 30 minutes). When cooked, turn off the heat, pour off the water from the pan below the steam pan, then sit the perforated pan on top of the empty, hot pan with the lid off to dry the potatoes. If it makes your life easier, you can steam the potatoes a couple of hours in advance as it would be fine roasting them once they’re cooled, so long as they haven’t been in the fridge.
Preheat the oven to 220ºC/200ºC Fan/425ºF then pour the oil into a small, shallow roasting tin and heat it in the oven for 5 minutes.
Tip the potatoes out onto a plate, and crush with a fork, but not too thoroughly. You want some of them crumbling into small pieces, but mostly think of more-or-less halving, leaving rough edges, the better to crisp and brown in the oven.
Take the tin out of the oven, carefully turn the potatoes in the oil and then roast for 20 minutes, then turn them and cook for a further 10 minutes until they are deep golden brown in parts and the rough edges are crisp; the smaller pieces will be dark and crunchy.
Remove to a serving bowl and sprinkle with vinegar and salt, then taste one of the potatoes — ultimate sacrifice — to see if you need to add more of either.
