Step 1: Preparing Your Mise en Place
- 2 lbs smaller floury potatoes*
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 lemons, zested and juiced (approx. 1 tbsp zest + 8 tbsp juice)
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/3 cup vegetable stock (preferably yellow or light colored)
- 1 1/2 tsp Greek oregano
- 1/2 tsp sea salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- paprika, to taste
To start, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
*Note: For this dish, try to find potatoes that are all about 3 inches in size. Russet potatoes are very popular for this dish; however, we prefer to use yellow or red potatoes instead.
Peel the potatoes, leave any smaller potatoes either whole, or simply cut in half. In the end, the pieces should all be roughly the same size so that they cook evenly. Therefore, if needed, you may need to cut some of the potatoes into quarters. Once done, rinse and drain the potatoes.
Next, place the potatoes into a roast pan or casserole dish and set aside while you prepare the dressing. For the best color, use a cast iron or stainless steel roasting pan.
To prepare the dressing, combine together the garlic, lemon zest and lemon juice, olive oil, stock, oregano and salt and pepper. Whisk to combine the ingredients and then pour over the potatoes and toss to coat.
Lastly, using a small sieve, sprinkle the potatoes with a bit of paprika — don’t sprinkle the potatoes everywhere, add just a touch for added color. To finish, sprinkle the potatoes with a bit of course salt.
Step 2: Roasting & Serving the Potatoes
- fresh flat leaf parsley, for garnish (optional)
To roast the potatoes, place them into the preheated oven and let cook for 30 minutes. Then remove the potatoes and gently turn them over to coat them in the dressing. Place the potatoes back into the oven and let cook for an additional 20 minutes or so, or until they are fully cooked through and golden.
For a bit more color, the heat can be turned up to 425°F or even 450°F for last 15 minutes, or so, just be sure to keep an eye on the potatoes and the bottom so they don’t dry up and burn. If the pan does seem to be drying out, add a bit more liquid to the bottom of the pan.
To serve the potatoes, garnish with some freshly chopped parsley, if desired, and enjoy.
These potatoes go particularly well with many of these delicious plant-based Greek recipes: Hummus, Tzatziki, Briam, Baked Beans | Plaki, Dolmades and Pita Bread.