Smashed Potatoes

Here’s an idea to add a little flare to your vegetable entree! I had some German Butterball potatoes to cook with, thank you to our local CSA farm, April Joy Farms. It turned out to be the perfect potato for this experiment! And a successful experiment it was!

You will need a handful of potatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper, and an optional sprinkling of Parmesan.

After washing the potatoes, place them in boiling water until they are just barely done, approximately ten minutes. The goal is to be able to “smash” them. As you might notice in my first photo, the one with a little potato skin falling off, I maybe left them in the boiling water a few minutes too long 😂. It’s easy to get distracted in the kitchen right? The point is that you know what the goal is 😉.

Remove potatoes from the water and allow to cool on a roasting pan. If your schedule allows, this step can be accomplished in the morning, making the dinnertime tasks even easier.

The next step, using a sharp knife, cut an “X” in the top of the potato, about halfway through. Then, using a fork, lightly press down to “smash” the potato. Brush the potatoes with olive oil, then sprinkle them with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

Roast at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, until they have turned golden brown and crispy. If desired, after removing from the oven, a sprinkling of Parmesan makes a perfect topping.

The leftovers make great breakfast potatoes!