Crispy Rosemary Potatoes
Small dice of potato, a spoonful of semolina for grip, and rosemary added late so it toasts instead of burning.
Why it works
Cutting the potatoes into 2 cm dice rather than roast-dinner chunks is what brings them inside an eighteen-minute window: there is far less interior to cook through before the outside crisps. A spoonful of semolina tossed through the oiled dice gives the hot air something rough to grip, so you get the sandy, shattering edge you would normally need a parboil for.
Method
- Heat the air fryer to 200°C (400°F). Toss the diced potato in a bowl with the oil, semolina, fine salt and pepper until every face looks dull and coated rather than shiny.
- Load the basket and air fry for 14 minutes, shaking hard at 5 and 10 minutes. Run it while the main is in the oven — the potatoes want no attention between shakes.
- At 11 minutes, scatter in the rosemary and crushed garlic and shake again. Added this late, the rosemary crisps and turns nutty instead of black.
- They are ready when the dice rattle loosely in the basket and a corner gives way under a fork with an audible crack. Tip onto a warm plate, squash the soft garlic out of its skins over the top, and finish with flaky salt.
For the toddler
Toss a handful of the dice separately at step 1 with oil and semolina but no salt, and tuck them into one corner of the basket. Leave the rosemary and the flaky salt off theirs at the end, or chop the rosemary to dust first. Press each piece lightly with a fork so the crisp shell breaks and the inside is soft. Four or five dice is a portion.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
Celeriac or swede in the same dice, same temperature, 12 minutes. Sweet potato needs 10 and no semolina.
Cut the dice while the air fryer heats. Skins on, always — peeling is the slow part.
A roast chicken thigh, grilled white fish, or a fried egg and brown sauce.
Keeps 2 days chilled. Reheat 4 minutes at 200°C (400°F); the microwave turns them to wool.