This recipe for Roasted Fingerling Potatoes is the perfect side for fall meals. Russian Banana Fingerling potatoes get planted in early spring – as early as April on the coast. This is a slow growing, late season variety, meaning that it won’t be fully mature and ready for harvest until late summer. The seed potatoes that get planted come in various sizes, from thumb-sized down to large marbles. Expect to harvest ten times what you plant, either in terms of weight or number of seed potatoes.
When they are ready for harvest, most fingerlings will be 10-12cm (4-5″) long, but they are quite variable. The thicker ones in this recipe are cut down the middle so they can all cook at the same rate.
Ingredients:
Around 1 lb of mature fingerling potatoes
2-3 sprigs fresh sage
3 sprigs fresh thyme (or substitute rosemary)
6-10 unpeeled garlic cloves, fewer if cloves are large
4 Tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
Method:
Preheat the oven to 500°F and arrange a rack in the centre of the oven.
In a mixing bowl, combine the potatoes, herbs, and garlic. Split any large fingerlings down their length so they all have a reasonably even thickness. Drizzle over the oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well to coat all the potatoes and garlic cloves with oil. Arrange this mixture in a single layer on a walled baking sheet, and drizzle over any oil left in the bowl. Place onto centre rack, and reduce heat to 400°F. Roast for 25 minutes, and then check for done-ness by poking one of the thicker spuds with a sharp knife. The skins should be crispy, and the insides nice and tender. If the potatoes still seem firm, turn them and continue cooking, but check for done-ness every five minutes or so.
