Recipe: Lemon Roasted Potatoes (with onion, rosemary and butter)

LEMON ROASTED POTATOES
"When we roast our potatoes, we nestle them into a bed of onions and lemons. The flavors slowly penetrate the spuds, and the lemons and onions soften and caramelize into an almost marmalade-like texture. Toss in chopped rosemary at the very end and the heat from the baking pan is enough to release the natural oils and cause it to perfume the entire dish. Just a few ingredients, used to their best advantage."



2 pounds new potatoes
1 medium yellow onion
2 small lemons, preferably Meyer
Fine sea salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
2/3 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Set a stovetop steamer over medium heat. Add the potatoes. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and steam the potatoes until tender when pierced with a cake tester, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, halve the onion through the root end so that there is a piece of core at the end of both halves holding the layers together. Cut off a small slice at one end of each lemon so that you just expose the inner fruit. Use a mandoline or sharp chef's knife to thinly slice the onion and lemons, discarding the uncut end of the lemon, any seeds, and onion cores when you are done. Mix them together with your hands in a medium bowl and season with salt to taste.

Once the potatoes are cooked, transfer them to a large plate to cool slightly and then use a paring knife to peel off the skins and discard. Cut each potato in half.

Put the olive oil in a heavy 9 13-inch roasting pan and rub it around the inside of the pan to coat it thoroughly. Layer the onions and lemons in the bottom of the dish. Lay the potatoes cut side down on top of them. Thinly slice the butter and lay one slice over each potato and scatter any extra over the top.

Bake for 25 minutes. Rotate the dish and bake until the potatoes are a deep golden brown, about 10 more minutes.

Remove the dish from the oven and scatter the rosemary over the potatoes. Let the dish rest for 5 minutes before serving so that the herb can permeate the dish. Serve from the roasting pan so the potatoes will remain crisp.

Serves 6 to 8 as a side dish
Used by permission to Recipelink.com from Ten Speed Press
Adapted from source: Maximum Flavor by H. Alexander Talbot