I absolutely love roast potatoes, and of course, the crispier the better, so when I discovered this one ingredient that is labelled as the key to making them super crispy on the outside but fluffy in the middle, I had to try it. I was surprised to find that semolina was in fact that one ingredient recommended and used by many famous chefs, including Gordon Ramsay. Semolina is a coarse flour and I always seem to have a packet at home, but never did I ever think to use it for my roast potatoes. So I decided to put Gordon’s recipe to the test, and it did not disappoint at all.
The recipe was fairly easy to follow and it didn’t require many ingredients. However, I do admit I was a bit skeptical about adding semolina to the potatoes just because I wondered if I would be able to taste it on the potatoes. However, by the end of the cooking process, I knew I was done with my old ways of making roast potatoes. Semolina truly is the trick to the crispiest roasties.
The ingredients for Gordon Ramsay’s roast potatoes recipe are:
- 1.2kg floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper or King Edward
- 100g goose or duck fat (or olive oil)
- 2 tbsp semolina
- 2 garlic cloves
- Few rosemary sprigs
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Everything cost me less than £10, but I did already have a huge packet of semolina in the cupboard ready to use. The method was super easy as well.
I started by preheating the oven to gas mark 6, peeling a few potatoes, popping them in salted cold water, and bringing them to a boil. Gordon’s recipe says to let the potatoes simmer for six minutes. However, I did opt to leave mine a little longer, around double the time, to be honest.
Meanwhile, I added a tablespoon and a half of goose fat to a baking tray and let that heat up in the oven. Once the potatoes were slightly soft, I drained them with a colander and gave them a little shake to fluff the edges. I then added my tablespoon of semolina and gave the potatoes another shake to spread it out before leaving them to steam for five minutes.
In those few minutes, I crushed two whole garlic gloves and grabbed some rosemary. After five minutes passed, I carefully added them both to the baking tray with the potatoes, making sure to coat the potatoes in the goose fat before popping them into the oven.
I left them in for about 45 minutes, turning them every 15 minutes. Once they were ready, I seasoned them with sea salt and pepper and added a bit of dried parsley. It’s safe to say that from now on semolina will always be made use of when I make roast potatoes.
