ROAST POTATOES NIGELLA RECIPES

Cook time: 12-14 hours.

Preheat the oven to full whack (240C/475F/gas 9). Toss the reserved pork skin in a little oil and sea salt (you can either slice it into long, thin strips or leave as one piece), lay it flat on a tray and roast until perfectly golden and crisp, keeping a close eye on it, then remove. Peel the onions, then cut into wedges with the apples. Trim and roughly chop the celery and break the garlic bulb into cloves. Scatter it all in your largest roasting tray with the sage and bay leaves, pour in the cider and add a good splash of water.

Bash the fennel seeds, cloves, dried chillies and . heaped teaspoon of salt to a fine dust in a pestle and mortar, then massage all over the pork with a drizzle of oil. Sit the pork in the tray, cover tightly with a double layer of tin foil, place in the oven and turn the temperature down to 130C/250F/gas ½ Roast for 10 to 12 hours, or until the meat pulls easily away from the bone, then remove from the oven and cover with a couple of clean tea towels to keep warm.

Turn the oven up to 200C/400F/gas 6. Peel the potatoes, then cut lengthways into wedges along with the fennel. Parboil in a couple of pans of boiling salted water – the potatoes for 7 minutes and the fennel for 6 – then drain, leave to steam dry completely, and place in a large, high-sided roasting tray (25cm x 35cm). Peel the garlic and blitz until fine with the anchovies, rosemary leaves and a good splash of boiling water in a blender. Finely grate in half the nutmeg and most of the Parmesan and pour in the cream. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, blitz again, then pour over the veg. Grate over the remaining Parmesan and bake at the bottom of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Serve everything in the middle of the table with a whole load of simply steamed seasonal greens. You’ll get a natural brothy gravy underneath the pork – reduce it on the hob before serving, if desired.

Tip: Freshen this up with a zingy salsa. Chop 2 eating apples into fine matchsticks and toss in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar and 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Pick, roll up and finely slice the leaves from ½ a bunch of fresh mint and toss into the bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper. Simple.

902 calories. 

Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water, and add 11/2tsp fine salt. Cover and bring to the boil over a high heat, then turn the heat down to medium. Simmer gently (don’t boil) for 15 minutes
until the potatoes are almost cooked. The tip of a small, sharp knife should go in easily without breaking the potato up.

Heat the oven to 200ºC fan (220°C/gas 7).

Drain the potatoes in a colander and shake well, then leave to dry out for a few minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a sturdy roasting pan in the oven until very hot.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven. One by one, carefully place the potatoes in the oil (don’t tip them from the colander into the pan or you’ll get splashed with hot oil). Season the potatoes with
a good pinch of fine salt and turn them in the oil until they’re coated, then return the pan to the oven.

Roast the potatoes for 30–40 minutes until crisp and golden. Turn them every 10 minutes, and sprinkle with sea salt about halfway through when they’re starting to colour.

Take the potatoes out of the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Serve hot, sprinkled with more sea salt.

Key to perfection
Golden and crisp on the outside, soft and fluffy inside – these are the perfect roast
potatoes. To achieve this result, there are two crucial stages.

1. Once the potatoes are dry, scratch them all over with a fork. By making the flesh rough on the outside, the hot oil will be able to penetrate into the surface quickly, which will make the potatoes crisp.

2. After boiling and draining, the potatoes must be allowed to dry out. Shake them in the colander
to get rid of excess water and lightly break up the outsides, then leave for a few minutes for the steam to escape.

All Is Not Lost
If the potatoes aren’t getting crisp enough towards the end of cooking, put the pan over a high heat on top of the stove, and toss and turn the potatoes until they crisp up.

Cook time: 12-14 hours.

Preheat the oven to full whack (240C/475F/gas 9). Toss the reserved pork skin in a little oil and sea salt (you can either slice it into long, thin strips or leave as one piece), lay it flat on a tray and roast until perfectly golden and crisp, keeping a close eye on it, then remove. Peel the onions, then cut into wedges with the apples. Trim and roughly chop the celery and break the garlic bulb into cloves. Scatter it all in your largest roasting tray with the sage and bay leaves, pour in the cider and add a good splash of water.

Bash the fennel seeds, cloves, dried chillies and . heaped teaspoon of salt to a fine dust in a pestle and mortar, then massage all over the pork with a drizzle of oil. Sit the pork in the tray, cover tightly with a double layer of tin foil, place in the oven and turn the temperature down to 130C/250F/gas ½ Roast for 10 to 12 hours, or until the meat pulls easily away from the bone, then remove from the oven and cover with a couple of clean tea towels to keep warm.

Turn the oven up to 200C/400F/gas 6. Peel the potatoes, then cut lengthways into wedges along with the fennel. Parboil in a couple of pans of boiling salted water – the potatoes for 7 minutes and the fennel for 6 – then drain, leave to steam dry completely, and place in a large, high-sided roasting tray (25cm x 35cm). Peel the garlic and blitz until fine with the anchovies, rosemary leaves and a good splash of boiling water in a blender. Finely grate in half the nutmeg and most of the Parmesan and pour in the cream. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, blitz again, then pour over the veg. Grate over the remaining Parmesan and bake at the bottom of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Serve everything in the middle of the table with a whole load of simply steamed seasonal greens. You’ll get a natural brothy gravy underneath the pork – reduce it on the hob before serving, if desired.

Tip: Freshen this up with a zingy salsa. Chop 2 eating apples into fine matchsticks and toss in a bowl with 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar and 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Pick, roll up and finely slice the leaves from ½ a bunch of fresh mint and toss into the bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper. Simple.

902 calories.