Digging for Buried Treasure – Smashed Potatoes

The fun aspect about growing potatoes in my garden, is that I never know what I’m going to find until harvest time. It’s like digging for buried treasure. Some years my crop fails and I get only a few puny spuds. Other years, as I dig, potatoes keep popping up like little gold nuggets.

When cooking my home grown potatoes, I keep it simple so as to not lose their fresh taste. And since I use no pesticides or chemicals in my garden, there’s no need to remove and waste the skins. So I make smashed potatoes, based on those made by Jacques Pepin, with only two additional ingredients; olive oil and salt.

What is best about these potatoes is that they can be cooked to satisfy both those who love crispy bits and those who love the creaminess of fresh potatoes. If they are cooked perfectly, you can get both creamy and crunchy in the same bite.

If you do not grow your own, you can use small red or white potatoes from the supermarket. Even large potatoes cut into 1½ to 2 inch chunks will work in a pinch.

Smashed Potatoes

Use a large heavy-bottomed pot to cook these potatoes, as they need to be cooked on a fairly high heat for a long time, and you don’t want them to burn. Alternatively, after par boiling, you could smash and cook them on a sheet pan in a 400^o F oven, flipping once to ensure even crispness.

To get crispy bits and edges, smashing after parboiling is essential. It releases starch from the interior of the potato, which crisps up much more readily than the smoother skins.

1 hour, 3 to 4 servings

Enough 1 to 2-inch diameter red or white potatoes to fill the bottom of a heavy pot in a single layer (about 1½ to 2 lbs.)

½ cup olive oil, divided

1 tsp kosher salt

1. Par boil the potatoes by placing them in a heavy-bottomed pot and adding enough water to just cover them. Bring the potatoes and water to a boil over a high heat. Cook until they can be just pierced with a fork, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the potatoes. (It may take some trial and error to determine how long you want to cook them, but this does not matter. If you cook them a little too long, they will fall apart more when you smash them, resulting in more crispy bits. If you don’t cook them quite long enough, they will be harder to smash, you will get fewer crispy bits, and you may need to cook them a little longer in the next steps to make sure they are cooked through.)
2. Heat about half the olive oil in the heavy-bottomed pot on high until shimmering and add the potatoes.
3. Allow them to cook for a few minutes, shaking the pot and turning the potatoes to coat them all in oil.
4. Using the bottom of a small sturdy glass or jar, lightly smash each individual potato. If you have a heavy hand, you will smash them more and get more crispy bits. Less smashed means fewer crispy bits and more creaminess in each potato.
5. Lower the heat to medium and cook the potatoes, stirring every few minutes, for about a half hour total or until they are as crispy as you like. Add the additional oil about half way through cooking, and add more oil if you feel like they are really sticking. Watch them carefully so they do not burn. To get crispier edges, leave them as long as you can without stirring, as long as they do not burn. If they are cooking too quickly, lower the heat.
6. When they are cooked to your liking, sprinkle the potatoes with the salt, give them a stir, and serve hot.

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