Kicking off “Potato Week” in my little attempt to create some January enthusiasm, here we have crispy and fluffy Sea Salt + Vinegar Smashed Potatoes. Yeah, sure — first you have to boil the mini-potatoes and then bake them and THEN finally, spritz them with a bit of malt vinegar, but OMG are these good. If you aren’t a malt vinegar type of person, you can skip that part, but don’t skimp on the sea salt. I didn’t make any dipping sauces (ketchup worked just fine), but I could see a sour-cream and chive, a curry ketchup or ranch-mayo deal. Find the smallest potatoes possible — these were a little smaller than a ping pong ball. Little red or yellows both work. Yum Yum!
Ingredients
2 pounds small-to-medium red or yellow potatoes
1 tablespoon table salt
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2-3 tablespoons malt vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
flakey sea salt, for sprinkling
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, chives and/or green onion (optional)
Optional: a kitchen spray bottle to evenly distribute the vinegar
Directions
To prepare the potatoes, scrub them clean if dirty and rinse under running water. Remove and discard any nubby sprouting areas. Place the potatoes in a large Dutch oven or other large pot. Fill the pot with water until the potatoes are submerged and covered by 1 inch of additional water. Add 1 tablespoon of table salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and continue cooking until the potatoes are very easily pierced through by a fork, around 20 minutes.
While the potatoes cook, preheat the oven to 425F and drizzle 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over a large, rimmed baking sheet. Brush the oil so it’s evenly distributed over the sheet.
When the potatoes are done, drain them in a large colander and let them cool for about 5 minutes, until they can be handled safely. Pat dry if necessary — you want to make sure they are as dry as possible. Evenly distribute the potatoes over the prepared baking sheet and use a potato masher or a serving fork to gently smash each potato to a height of about 1/2 inch. The thinner the potatoes are, the crispier. The thicker, the fluffier on the inside. Drizzle the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil over the smashed potatoes. Bake until the potatoes are nice and golden on the edges, about 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven, spritz vinegar onto the hot potatoes (alternatively, if you do not have a spray bottle, just drizzle the vinegar on). Sprinkle with the flaky sea salt and freshly ground pepper and return to the oven for a final 5 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped chines, parsley or green onions, if using. Serve hot.
