Okay, this recipe has been a long time coming… so long in fact that I’d forgotten I hadn’t posted it until someone asked me on Instagram the other day. Let’s just say I’ve been attempting to perfect air fryer roasties ever since I first got the beast almost three years ago. The main way these differ from their oven-roasted counterparts is that it’s not really convenient to heat up the oil (or goose fat) until almost spitting before adding the potatoes because I’ve found these turn out better in the air fryer by putting them directly in the hot basket (no pan). So what I do is douse the potatoes in lovely evoo (or sometimes a combo of evoo and melted butter), quickly toss them and throw them into the pre-heated basket, giving them a shake every ten minutes and squirting them with a bit more evoo if they look like they need it.
As I say, I’ve tried several variations and they were all good, but not quite “there” yet, if you know what I mean. And then I came across Nigella’s recipe for Perfect Roast Potatoes which included a dredging in semolina after par-boiling and just before hitting the hot goose fat. So two things… I couldn’t find semolina anywhere here and wasn’t using spitting hot oil. And so instead I threw a handful of panko crumbs over the hot and freshly evoo-doused par-boiled potatoes, gave that a toss, and then right into the hot basket. And hey… success.
Ingredients and instructions below…
- potatoes
- salt
- panko crumbs
- olive oil (and melted butter – optional)
Yes, there are no measurements because it doesn’t really matter, especially with the air fryer. If you are making these just for you then maybe a couple of potatoes, but you could go up to four or five, which is probably all that will fit while allowing for the all important space to brown and get crispy. But with more potatoes of course you will need more oil and a bit more time.
Cut up your potatoes into smallish chunks and par-boil them in well-salted water for about five minutes. Important… you only want the surface cooked, not the potatoes soft all the way through. Then drain them in a colandar, and afterwards put the colander over the pot and cover with a tea towel for about 5-10 minutes (this helps remove excess moisture from the surface of the potatoes). After that give the potatoes a good shake in the colander to rough up the edges. Douse them with a good splash of extra virgin olive oil, toss them again, add a handful of panko crumbs and toss again.
Then straight into the hot air fryer basket giving them a good shake to space them out evenly.
Cook at 195ºC for 20 minutes, being careful to shake the heck out of them after 10 minutes (and spritzing with olive oil if you think they need it – you’ll know). Then shake them again and cook for an additional 10 minutes if you just have a couple of potatoes, or another 20 minutes if the basket is fuller (but again, shake after 10 minutes).
