Semolina Oven-Fried Potatoes
Makes 6 Servings
Fluffy, lightly crispy, and very tasty, this side dish can be made with new potatoes, but the results are absolutely gorgeous when it’s made with some of the more colorful heirloom varieties. We’ve called the dish “oven fried” because of the amount of oil involved, but the results are closer to crispier-skinned conventionally roasted potatoes than French fries.
Because it’s really more of a technique than a recipe, the below ingredients list can easily be scaled to make any quantity of potatoes.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 pound Heirloom Potatoes
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt, plus extra to taste
- Semolina Flour
- Olive Oil
DIRECTIONS
1
Wash, scrub and halve the potatoes.
2
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
3
Using a microplane grater, very lightly grate the potatoes on all sides, just enough to roughen the surface of their skin.
4
Add the potatoes to a pot with the salt and just enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil & cook for four minutes, then drain.
5
Fill a deep baking dish with a layer of olive oil ½” deep and put it in your oven until very hot.
6
Toss the potatoes with enough semolina flour to coat, rubbing them to make sure you have a thin, even coating.
7
Very carefully lift the dish out of the oven and add your potatoes.
8
Return the dish to the oven and continue to cook.
9
After ten minutes, use a pair of tongs to reach into the oven and give each of the potato pieces a turn.
10
If you’re roasting purple potatoes, it may be difficult to tell when they’re done from looks alone. If so, use a pair of tongs to retrieve a potato and test it for tenderness.
11
When the potatoes are cooked, very carefully remove the dish from the oven. Use tongs to retrieve the potatoes from the oil and place them on paper towel to drain. Dust with kosher salt.
12
Serve.