For me, potatoes in almost any form are comfort food. I adore eating out when you eat like you are at someone’s mom’s house in Tuscany. Many small family trattorias I go to are like that.
For making a lot of roasted potatoes quickly, they don’t have time or space to roast all the potatoes at once, so here is the trick.
The potatoes are boiled first and then roasted off to have a crunchy finish at the end before serving.
Twice-Cooked Tuscan Trattoria Potatoes
Boil the potatoes in their skins in salted water.
Let cool.
Peel and spread the cut boiled potatoes on a cookie sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
Add chopped sage leaves and rosemary.
Let them cook at 350 degrees until the turn golden. Then using a spatula, flip and cook until golden on the other side too.
Serve hot!
Each bite has the crispy outside and creamy “mashed potato-like” inside.
The traditional tuscan herbs are rosemary and sage. Finely chopped and mixed with salt,it is also like the porchetta blend, which is mixed with garlic black pepper and fennel to seasons roast pork.
Here is a link to the Tuscan Herb Mixture.
Herbs can be expensive if you keep buying them in those small packages in the grocery store.
Plant some now in your garden. It snowed here last winter and both the plants survived.
Be sure to plant the herbal rosemary and not one for landscaping, which can be too strong for cooking.
Tuscan sage has large leaves and is often used as an appetizer, batter-fried, but the smaller leaved sage is fine.
On the potatoes I simply cut the herbs with scissors and tossed on top for a more rustic look.
Whole sage leaves are also fried in butter and eaten with raviolis. They are the BEST part of ravioli Burro e Salvia, be sure to eat them.
Enjoy!
My mom use to make potatoes just like that. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
They look yummy! We like to cut them in smaller cubes and fry with herbs. Just so darn tasty. I find it hard to keep fresh herbs in the house. Even bought one of those clear tubes to put them in with water, but did not work. Thanx for the recipe!!
Have never tried to boil them first. Sounds like a great idea I will try. Grazie, Lisa
Love those photos! Complimenti. And now I know what to fix for dinner tonight! Thank you.
Sage and crispy potatoes are such a tasty combo.
I know it depends on the size of the potato but approx. how long do you boil them whole? Thank you!! Till fork tender or no?
fork tender is good- everything in America is bigger. Plus, mostly we have a smaller yukon gold style of potato. no russets or idahoes!
I can testify…these are incredible!
Sort of like the way I do potatoes when I want to finish them around a roast, except these are smaller pieces and I love the addition of the fresh herbs…potatoes, rosemary and sage love each other. This is one of the few ways I love to eat potatoes (too many plain boiled ones when growing up!) Thanks Judy these potatoes would go with just about anything!