Step 1

Boil a pan of water with a pinch of salt, and parboil the potatoes for about 8 minutes. The smaller they are, the quicker they will cook. Make sure they do not overcook in the pan. They should still be hard when you drain them.

Step 2

Drain the potatoes in the pan. I use the pan lid to hold the potatoes in the pan while I drain the water into the sink. It saves having to wash a colander or sieve.

Step 3

Then add the flour to the potatoes and leave to cool.

Step 4

In the meantime heat the oven to 190C and heat the fat in the roasting dish in the oven.

Step 5

Season the potatoes in the pan and cover the potatoes with the flour and seasoning (I do this by holding the lid on the saucepan and carefully rotating it upside down, but not enough to damage the potatoes). This roughens up the outside of the potatoes which will give a lovely crispy outside.

Step 6

When the oil is hot remove the roasting dish from the oven, then add the potatoes being careful not to splash yourself with boiling oil. Baste the potatoes with the hot oil using a spoon.

Step 7

Then place the roasting dish back in the oven checking every 20 minutes to turn and baste if necessary. If you have a roast in the same oven you should roast the potatoes at the same temperature as the roast meat.

Step 8

When you remove your roast from the oven to rest, then turn up the temperature of the oven to 190C or 200C to crispen up the potatoes if need be. If you are just cooking potatoes in the oven, you can put the oven at 190C and they should be ready within about 45-50 minutes.