I could never turn down a crispy potato, friends. These are so delicious! I’m assuming you don’t have leftover potatoes in your fridge right now so I wrote this recipe starting with raw yukon gold baby potatoes. So excited to share this recipe with you for these crispy smashed potatoes topped with roasted garlic, balsamic shallots, freshly grated parmesan, lemon zest and green onions! These are heavenly and are sure to please all your guests.
It’s that time of year when side dishes become more than an after thought. Thanksgiving and Christmas provide a great excuse to focus on all parts of the meal. If you’ve already started thinking about your festive menus like I have, I highly recommend including a platter of these potatoes. These potatoes may steal the show at your festive feast, so it’s probably best to make a double batch.
Side dishes can make a good meal great. They are the supporting actors to a well-prepared piece of meat, which, if performing well, can hog the spotlight. But paying attention to what best supports the star can turn a meal from B-grade to award winning. I also made my delicious ROASTED CARROTS WITH CARROT TOP PESTO and green beans with sauteed garlic and chopped almonds to accompany this meal.
The best thing about these is that you can par-boiled them ahead of time, keep them in the fridge until you are ready to smash them and roast them. Roast a few heads of garlic ahead of time and caramelize the shallots in olive oil and balsamic vinegar to keep this easy to prepare when it comes time to smash these puppies and roast them up.
These work great as a side for any meat. This year, I am serving mine with my favorite ham that I picked up from my local Fred Meyer store. While everyone thinks they are available during the holidays only, little did I know…you can order them year round through the meat department of your local store. They slow bake and naturally smoke their Flame Crafted Ham for 12 hours. It is coated with a sweet organic honey glaze. I mean hello, yes please. Plus they give you easy heating instructions when you are ready to serve this tasty ham. Serving them alongside this delicious ham is ideal, but you can use them as a side with any other meat you will be serving during the holidays.
The potatoes turned out so amazing, I had to share them with you. I think they are definitely worth that extra step of smashing and roasting. I love the addition of the roasted garlic, the acidity of the balsamic shallots, freshly grated parmesan and the contrast of the crispy potato skins and creamy insides. Finished off with fresh lemon zest and green onions when out of the oven to add some color and freshness. So good!!! Try them!
When you pull the tray out of the oven, you have a golden landscape of potatoes, with valleys and hills that provide different pockets to hold the flavorsome textures of the toppings. Adding lemon zest adds a surprise burst of citrus when it reaches the eaters mouth. Finish off with a sprinkle of freshly chopped green onions and you are ready to take on the holiday crowd.
CRISPY SMASHED POTATOES WITH ROASTED GARLIC, PARMESAN, AND BALSAMIC SHALLOTS
INGREDIENTS
- 5 large shallots, peeled and finely chopped in thin slices, l
- 2-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- light salt, to taste
- 2 heads of garlic, cut in half horizontally
- drizzle of olive oil
- foil
- 2 lbs or two bags of baby yukon gold potatoes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- sea salt, to taste
- 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh green onions
- zest of one lemon
INSTRUCTIONS
Balsamic Shallots
- Peel the shallots. Cut in half and then cut thin half circles.
- In a large pan, heat olive oil and add the shallots, sauté on medium heat until slightly caramelized. Add the balsamic vinegar and sauté until vinegar dissolves.
- Cool and store in the refrigerator in a closed jar until ready to use. You can make this a week ahead of time if needed.
Roasted Garlic
- Lightly drizzle olive oil on halved garlic heads, place the tops on the bottom parts, place in foil and wrap tightly.
- Bake at 400F for about 25-30 minutes or until roasted.
- Cool before handling. When ready to use, squeeze the cloves in a bowl. You can make this a week ahead of time if needed.
Potatoes
- In a large saucepan, place cleaned potatoes (unpeeled) and cover with water, a bit over the tops.
- Add salt to the water (I like to taste my water to measure how much salt I need) and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20-30 minutes. This depends on how big your potatoes are.
- Drain potatoes and let them cool.
- Preheat oven to 450F.
- Cool for five minutes in a baking sheet, then using the bottom of a mason jar or a glass, gently smash each potato.
- Drizzle each potato with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt.
- Place tray in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and flip each potato to the other side. Drizzle with remaining olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes until brown and crispy.
- Remove from the oven, add roasted garlic, balsamic caramelized onions and parmesan cheese, bake until cheese has melted, about 5 more minutes.
- Finally remove the tray from the oven, zest one lemon and sprinkle with green onions.
- Place on a platter, serve and enjoy!
This is a sponsored post written by LENASKITCHEN on behalf of Fred Meyer/Kroger. The opinions and text are all mine.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #lenaskitchenblog
Probably the best potatoes you can make. They take a little more time so I make them for special occasions. Everyone loved them at my Christmas party. And just made them again this weekend for a nice Father’s Day steak dinner. The balsamic shallots and roasted garlic are sooo tasty. I like that you can make those two ahead of time so it goes faster when you’re making dinner. Thanks for the awesome recipe, Lena!