If you’ve still got potato plants growing in your garden this October dig them up. Because this month is the last month for harvesting potatoes before they rot and waste all your hard work growing them all year.
But if you find your garden potato crop has gone much better than planned and now you’re drowning in potatoes you can’t eat quickly enough, there is a quick and easy roast potato recipe that’s perfect for your leftover garden spuds.
According to the Royal Horticultural Society, maincrop potatoes need to be harvested in late summer or early autumn, with the last month of harvest being October.
While there are ways you can store dug up potatoes for months, such as storing them somewhere dark like a garage, it’s much more fun to just eat them while they’re fresh.
And there’s probably no more popular meal for your garden potatoes than a big tray of roasties.
Fortunately, Tesco has a recipe that turns a big bowl of freshly harvested garden potatoes into an indulgent and tasty trayful of roast potatoes in just 40 minutes.
To make it, all you need is 1.2kg of potatoes, some vegetable oil and a few seasonings.
The supermarket giant says its simple recipe makes potatoes that are ‘crisp on the outside, delightfully fluffy on the inside’.
To make them, heat the oven to gas mark 7 or 220°C, or for a fan oven, 200°C. Pour the oil into a large roasting tray with the garlic and half the rosemary, add a big sprinkle of sea salt. Put into the oven to heat up.
Then, Tesco says: “Take each potato and cut into small chunks (small potatoes into 4 chunks, medium potatoes into 6 and very large ones into 8), keeping the skins on will add texture.
“Put into a pan, cover with water and turn up to the highest heat. Once boiling vigorously leave for 1 minute, turn off the heat, drain and leave to steam dry in a colander for a few minutes. Shake the colander to ruffle the edges a little, this will help get them really crispy.
“Remove the oven tray carefully as the oil will be very hot, add the potatoes, toss to coat in the oil, season and top with the rest of the rosemary. Roast for 30-35 minutes, turning once halfway though, until crispy and golden.
“Tip: The key to getting these really crispy, quickly, is the hot fat and cooking the potatoes in a single layer, therefore use a nice big roasting tin and don’t overcrowd the tray.”
Of course, if you don’t fancy eating lots of roast potatoes in October, you can dig up and store your potatoes instead
To do this, you’ll need to harvest them, then dust them off to remove excess soil, and then place them into sacks, before storing them in a cool, dry and dark place. A garage would be ideal, but a cellar or pantry could also work as long as it’s free from light and moisture.