Smashed potatoes

I've got a love affair with potatoes. Any kind of potatoes, doesn't really matter in my book. Which is sort of unfortunate, since I live with a Filipino who could never eat another potato and be perfectly happy with life, as long as he's got rice.
I make potatoes anyway, because I am stubborn -- and pregnant -- and I do most of the cooking. If he wants rice, he makes a pot of rice and eats that. Gaby? She's firmly in the rice camp.
Which really just leaves more potatoes for me.
I knew when I saw this recipe earlier in the week that it'd turn up in my menu planning this weekend. Cooking potatoes this way is good, and easy, and you can really adapt it any way you like. My friend Crystal also made them this week, and she used chives, cheese and bacon bits.
But here's how I did it.

New Potatoes (or other small, round potato -- I used red potatoes)
Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Whatever herb you like (I used rosemary)

Begin by bringing a pot of salted water to a boil. Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make, and cook them until they’re fork-tender.
Next, generously drizzle olive oil on a sheet pan. This is to keep the potatoes from sticking, so I put some oil on the pan and then smeared it around to coat.
When the potatoes are tender, place them on the cookie sheet, giving them plenty of room to spread out. Next, grab your potato masher and gently press down on the potato until it slightly mashed.Then rotate the masher 90 degrees and finish flattening it. Of course, you don’t want to absolutely smash it into the pan -- you want it almost to resemble a cookie. You can also use the bottom of a glass for this step.
Next, brush the tops rather generously with olive oil. Salt with kosher salt, sprinkle with pepper and add whatever herbs you like, chopped finely.
Put them onto the top rack of a 450-degree oven, and cook them for 20-25 minutes until they’re golden and crispy and sizzling.

Comments

gwen said…
YUM. They sound like simplified (the people on Top Chef would say "cleaner") potato pancakes. You didn't peel the potatoes, right?
Unknown said…
Yes, I leave the skin on. The skin gets crispy and wonderful when it's baked.
Anonymous said…
these were as good as you said they'd be.
gwen said…
Finally made these for dinner last night and they were amazingly wonderful... I put parsley and sour cream on them. Perfect.

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