Pancetta, Chestnut and Sage Christmas Tatties
I made the mistake of making these over the Christmas period for family one time and now I have to made them every single year. Without fail. They’ve become an absolute family fave and tbh I get it because they SCREAM Christmas with all those festive flavours going on.
If you fancy adding a lil extra something to your roasties this year, try these out and await the silence around your Christmas table whilst everyone tucks in. For some families, the moment of silence is probably just as nice as the spuds.
What if I want to master the classic roastie first?
Fear not, potato fans. If you’re all about the classics, master your spud game with my ultimate roastie recipe first. Because sometimes it’s the classic, and let’s be honest, the more basic recipes that really hit the spot. My roast potato recipe is literally three ingredients. Potatoes, salt and oil. That is all you need. You could opt for a bit of goose fat if you wanna add that festive touch, but both are winners for me.
Ingredients
- 6 maris piper potatoes
- 1 large tbsp duck fat/goose fat/oil
- 5 rashers smoked pancetta
- Small handful of cooked chestnuts
- 3 sage leaves
- Plenty of salt and pepper
- A crumble of mature stilton (optional)
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
- Wash and cut your potatoes (into square-ish pieces). I like big roasties so they get extra fluffy inside.
- Put your spuds into a pan with 1 tsp of salt and fill with water to cover, boil until falling off the end of a knife.
- In this time, place your fat of choice into a baking tray and place it in the oven to get nice and hot, leave for at least 10 mins.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them off and leave them to dry/steam off for around 5 mins. Steam drying is super important as it helps your spuds get extra crispy.
- Carefully pour the drained potatoes into the hot fat (please be careful not to burn yourself).
- Give them a bit of a toss and get them coated in all the fatty goodness.
- Cook for 35 mins, giving them a stir twice. Try not to disrupt them too much otherwise they may break up.
- After 35 mins, add your pancetta to the tray and cook with the spuds for a further 8-10 mins until crispy.
- Remove the tray of tatties and pancetta from the oven and cut the pancetta into chunks. Chop your chestnuts and slice the sage.
- Mix altogether with the spuds in a metal bowl for extra crispy sounds.
- Serve with a crumbling of Stilton and devour! So festive, so delicious.