11th January 2024

Larder Living

Crispy Leaf Potatoes

Use up the last of your stored or leftover potatoes with this hard to beat crispy leaf potato recipe. It’s also a good time to start thinking about what potatoes to consider growing this year. It’s a nice idea to choose a variety that is hard to find in the shops: the nobbly and nutty ‘Pink Fir Apple’ or the vibrant purple variety ‘Salad Blue’ which are always a delight. Halls of Heddon garden centre already have a brilliant selection available now which you can pick and mix from large sacks and it’s a good way to try a few different varieties. Stick to first earlies and salad potatoes if you have a smaller growing space.

Ingredients

Lots of potatoes!

Olive oil or leftover duck fat

Fresh rosemary, finely chopped

Crushed garlic

Sea-salt flakes

Recipe

Preheat oven to 180°C

Leaving the skins on, thinly slice the potatoes on a mandolin. Place in a large bowl, add the olive oil or leftover duck fat, salt, garlic and rosemary and toss to gently combine.

Arrange the potato slices upright in a roasting tin about 6cm deep and pack tightly.

Roast for 1 hour until crisp and tender.

There is nearly always pasta in the pantry when your fridge is bare even if it’s a mix of two shapes. With just a few essentials such as tinned tomatoes, anchovies or even sriracha – you can create a quick and easy feast.

 

Simple tomato sauce to cook slowly over a low heat to serve with pasta

 

Ingredients

2 tins chopped tomatoes

200ml olive oil

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (more if you want)

½ tsp caster sugar to sweeten

Salt and pepper

(Optional ingredients depending on what you have – small capers, sriracha, black olives, anchovies)

Cook uncovered over a very low heat for 20-30 minutes until you can see oil on the surface of the sauce and a spoon dragged through leaves a clear trail on the bottom of the saucepan.