As you’re enjoying your Christmas lunch, there’s nothing like a good crispy roast potato to accompany your turkey and festive veg. Here's our recipe for the perfect roasties.

There’s a lot of debate about how to cook the perfect roast potatoes, we’re using Wilja potatoes, sourced from the Morghew Estate in Kent. The Wilja variety is a versatile potato that actually tastes like potato – unlike the watery balls of starch you find in large supermarkets. It’s worth making an effort to buy your potatoes from your local greengrocer or farmers market as you’ll find good quality potatoes, grown in the ground and full of real potato flavour. When cutting the potatoes, go for a bite sized piece and make sure there are plenty of straight edges, as these will crisp up as they roast. Most important of all, potatoes don’t wait for you. Make sure you time the roasting with your mealtime, so you can serve piping hot potatoes with your roast Christmas meal.

Potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces

Block of beef dripping

Olive Branch Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cooking instructions:

Boil the potatoes in a pan of boiling salted water. Boil them until they start to crumble

Once the potatoes are boiled, carefully remove them from the pan and leave to cool in a colander.

Whilst the potatoes are cooling, take a baking tray and place the beef dripping and a good amount of extra virgin olive oil. You’ll want enough to well coat the potatoes.

Switch on the oven to 200 degrees and heat the beef dripping and oil.

Once this starts to sizzle, remove from the oven and carefully place the potatoes onto the tray.

Cook the potatoes for 45-60 minutes, turning approximately every 15 minutes, so each straight edge has a chance to roast in the dripping and oil.

Once the potatoes are brown and crispy on each side, remove from the oven and carefully transfer the potatoes into a serving dish. Sprinkle over plenty of ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – enjoy piping hot with your meal!

Ingredients