Garlic and Rosemary Roast Potatoes

These roast potatoes are probably my favourite thing to cook and eat, as they're just so ridiculously packed full of flavour.  They are also a favourite with my friends, my friend Ruaridh scrapes the roasting dish clean every time I make them!  They're pretty easy to make, all you need is:

• Potatoes - I use about three per person, depending on size
• Half a bulb of garlic
• Rosemary (fresh or dried)
• Sea salt
• Sunflower oil
• Garlic salt, dried basil and oregano (optional)

1. Peel the potatoes and chop into smallish pieces.  I generally half the potato and then cut that half into quarters.  Boil the chopped potatoes for about 5 minutes, then drain.

 2. While the potatoes are boiling, crush and finely chop 4 garlic cloves.  Crush the remaining cloves and remove the skin, but don't chop them up.

 3. Prepare the roasting dish.  This process is layered like a sandwich - first put in a drizzle of oil, then add the salt and some herbs until it looks like the picture below.  If using fresh rosemary, tear it into little pieces and reserve some whole stalks for putting on top.

 4. Put the potatoes on top of the herbs, and add the garlic, evenly dispersing the whole garlic cloves throughout the dish.  Mix everything together with a spatula, then add another sprinkle of salt and herbs on top and complete the layering process with another drizzle of oil.

5. Put the dish in the oven at about 200 degrees for 40 minutes to an hour, depending on how crispy you want your potatoes.  Take the dish out once or twice and move everything about with the spatula and add more oil if it looks a bit dry.

 6. Your finished potatoes should look like this, but possibly less yellow due to the flash being off on my camera.

 I had my potatoes with cajun chicken, but they go well with lots of things - a roast dinner, pork chops, chicken pies, whatever you like.  Leftovers are really nice heated up the next day with some little bits of bacon.

Here they are as part of the Christmas dinner Tetley and I made for our friends, they are perfect for any occasion!