Ingredients

• 2kg Russet Potatoes (washed, trimmed and cut into quarters diagonally)
• 100ml Olive Oil
• 1 Whole Head of Garlic (cut in half horizontally)
• 5 Sprigs of Thyme (flowers picked)
• 1 Sprig of Rosemary (finely chopped)
• 3 Bay Leaves
• 2tbsp Dried Chilli Flakes
• 1tsp Cayenne Pepper Powder
• Salt

Instructions:

1. Fill a large pot about 2/3 full with cold water and add your garlic and bay leaves along with a large pinch of salt to your water.  Cook under high heat until the water comes to a boil.  Carefully add your potatoes to the boiling salted water and turn down the heat to a medium high.  Cook for approximately 30-40mins or until the potatoes are tender and cooked through.
2. Strain your potatoes through a colander and allow to stand for a few mins to steam and allow the excess moisture to evaporate.  Remove and discard your garlic bay leaves.
3. Preheat your oven to 425ºF, and place a large sheet pan in the oven to heat through.
4. Remove your hot sheet pan from the oven, and add your olive oil. Add your potatoes to the pan and coat them in olive oil and place them cut side down on the pan.  Season with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.
5. Place your pan with potatoes back into the oven and roast them for 45mins-1hr until golden and crispy all over.
6. When your potatoes are cooked through and golden brown, remove your pan from the oven and drizzle a little more olive oil on top of the potatoes.  Add your thyme, rosemary and chilli flakes to your potatoes and toss them through until well coated, and place your potatoes back into the oven for another 1-2mins
7. Remove your potatoes from the oven and place onto a serving dish before serving.

Notes:

• When you’re prepping your potatoes, check to see if there are any bruises/scars and trim them off as necessary.  Also make sure your potatoes are well washed and cleaned before parboiling them, otherwise they may taste a slightly muddy.
• I prefer a more subtle garlic flavour, so I incorporated the garlic flavour while the potatoes were being parboiled as opposed to them being roasted together.  However, if you prefer a more pronounced garlic flavour you could add them to your roasting pan while the potatoes are roasting in the oven.  The only thing to be wary of is that the garlic tends to burn quite easily, so keep an eye on it.
• It’s important to add your fresh herbs right at the very end of cooking, so that they retain their flavour and aroma.  If you added them right at the start of cooking, they would all be burned.
• You can vary this recipe by swapping some of the herbs and spices to suit your taste, such as swapping the dried chilli powder with smoked sweet paprika, turmeric, etc.