Get ready to bookmark this recipe for your holiday table, these spuds are addictive, easy to make and fancy AF. Potatoes take a lot of heat because of the carb count but don’t overlook them as part of a healthy diet. Carbs make us feel full and satisfied and lead us to eat less, in fact a study in 2007 compared various carbs for satiety and potatoes ranked highest and led participants to consume less calories overall.
So in the theme of deprivation being the death of a healthy diet I bring you this decadent yet simple side dish. I’m using truffle oil in this recipe which you can buy at fine food stores but you can certainly make this recipe with olive oil if you prefer a more neutral flavor. I love the taste of truffle though and feel like it elevates any dish to something special. Truffle oils and butters are such a great way to get flavor into your dishes without sourcing (and paying for) whole truffles. I’ve linked one I love from Eataly which uses no chemical flavorings in it’s oil so you can be sure you’re using pure oil and real truffle.
These potatoes are boiled until fork tender, drained and allowed to rest and then doused with truffle oil while still warm. I like to give the potatoes about 10-15 mins after straining to allow all the steam from boiling to escape so they are warm but dry to the touch. I’ll then transfer them to glass bowl and add my oil, thyme, salt and pepper and toss and then spread them on a baking sheet and start smashing away (oddly satisfying btw). Pop them into a preheated oven and flip em once to achieve maximum crispiness on all sides. Don’t worry if you get little bits that break off – those pieces become little bits of crispy heaven.
These potatoes are also great next day for breakfast as a potato hash with some scallions and fresh herbs or better yet make these for brunch and serve with drippy poached eggs. The best part of reheating these or any other potatoes is that you create what’s called resistant starch in them and that is excellent for your gut health. Basically, resistant starch passes through you without being absorbed so anytime you can cook, then cool then reheat a potato you can add to this process occurring. So make a big batch of these and save half as leftovers for brunch later in the week!
Truffle & Thyme Crispy Smashed Potatoes
Equipment
- Sheet pan
- potato masher
Materials
- 4-5 red potatoes or yukon gold or any mini mixed variety
- 2 tbsp white truffle oil
- 4 sprigs thyme leaves
- 1 tsp salt pink himalayan preferred
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper
- Rinse and cube your potatoes and add them to a pot and cover with cool water. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender, about 10-12 mins
- Drain potatoes to a colander and allow the steam to evaporate and the potatoes to cool slightly, about 5-10 mins.
- Add the warm potatoes to a mixing bowl and add the truffle oil, sprigs of thyme stripped from the stem and half salt and pepper.
- Add the potatoes to the sheet pan and smash using your potato smasher, spread the potatoes out evenly so none overlap and each has enough room to get crispy.
- Roast in your preheated oven 15-20 mins then remove and flip potatoes and return for another 15-20 mins.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the remaining salt and pepper
