Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without an almost unlimited supply of roast potatoes, but did you know that you could prepare the perfect roasties in a microwave?
Because we definitely didn’t. Jacket potatoes? Sure. Mashed potatoes? Maybe. But surely it’s not possible to recreate crispy on the outside/fluffy on the inside roast potatoes without, well, roasting them in an oven?
Not so, according to Michelin-starred chef Tom Kitchin, who shared his secret to preparing perfect roast potatoes in the microwave with Prima.co.uk.
Just think – another free oven shelf when it comes to cooking the Christmas dinner!
Of course, there is one caveat here: you need to have a Combination Microwave offering microwave, convection and grill functions for this to work.
‘Here are my quick and easy steps for preparing perfect roast potatoes, which are sure to impress your guests this Christmas,’ he says.
How to make roast potatoes in the microwave
First things first, make sure to choose the right potato for the job. I tend to use a nice Maris Piper to get that perfect amount of fluffiness.
Peel your potatoes and chop them on a slant into large chunks. Place in salted water and set aside. I’d always recommend doing this on Christmas Eve so you don’t need to waste time on the big day.
Parboil the potatoes the night before by placing in a large dish with three tablespoons of water, cover and cook in your Combination Microwave on Medium Microwave for six minutes, drain and leave in a pan of salted water. This step will take the edge of rawness off the potatoes, giving them a delicious finish!
Drain the potatoes when you’re ready to roast them and roughen the edges by bashing them up in a colander and scraping the sides with a fork to ensure a crispy outside.
Add olive oil to a glass pyrex baking dish and put inside the microwave oven to get it really hot.
Pop your parboiled potatoes in the dish with another ample glug of oil (duck fat will give a lovely flavour), garlic and a touch of rosemary, then season with salt and pepper.
Place the dish in the lower shelf position of the Combi Microwave and cook on Convection 250ºC, Grill and Convection Warm Microwave settings for just 30 minutes or until golden and crunchy. Making sure to turn and baste the potatoes during cooking.
Serve up your perfect roasties with a garnish of salt, pepper and a sprig of fresh rosemary.
We are definitely giving this a go!
