Crash Hot Potatoes
I love no-recipe recipes. This isn’t my recipe, but when I saw it on The Pioneer Woman, I knew I not only had to make it (over and over), but also share it with you guys.
It is EASY and it is TASTY.
Boil potatoes, smash them, cover them with olive oil, salt, and rosemary, and bake them until they’re crispy. There. Now you know how to make them.
The Pioneer Woman uses New Potatoes, and I think those are a good choice. They’re small and waxy, which means when you squish them they don’t explode into a fluffy mess.
I, however, used regular organic russets, but small ones. These also worked just fine, but I did get a bit of fluffy mess. No worries, if this happens to you, just scoop the potatoes into rough piles and proceed.
In November I bought a pressure cooker, and I adore it. Especially for making potatoes. It’s not that boiling potatoes is hard, but pressure cooking them is definitely easier. They come out nice and fluffy and delicious, and they cook quickly and evenly. No soggy potatoes from over boiling, no splashing and scalding, just well-cooked potatoes every time.
Also, keep in mind that this recipe does require a good deal of oil and salt to be tasty. Obviously fat and salt make lots of things tasty, but when you’re dressing up naked potatoes, they’re really required. You can add more salt at the table if needed, but do your tastebuds a favor and close your eyes when you’re putting the oil on before baking.
Crash Hot Potatoes
Makes as many as you please
Several Smallish Potatoes, red or russet
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
2-3 Sprigs Rosemary
Preheat oven to 450º F.
Scrub the potatoes clean. Boil them until tender all the way through. If you have a pressure cooker, cook the potatoes whole on a trivet with 1 cup of water for 10-20 minutes at high-pressure, depending on the size of your potatoes. Turn off the heat and let the cooker release pressure naturally.
Place the cooked potatoes on a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil. I like to use parchment paper here to keep things clean and non-stick.
Make an X cut on the top of each potato for easier squishing. Use a potato masher and gently press on each potato until squished but not obliterated. You want them to stay together somewhat. If they fall apart, have no fear! Just scoop the bits into piles and proceed.
Once smashed, generously sprinkle salt over each potato. Follow with pepper, and douse everything with more olive oil. If desired, sprinkle each potato with freshly chopped rosemary.
Bake the potatoes at 450º F for 20-25 minutes, longer is better as long as they’re not burning. Serve hot! I sprinkled smoked paprika over them to finish, but I put that on everything.
Thanks, Pioneer Woman, for the awesome recipe!
I made these a few weeks ago, but I didn’t blog about it because they got EATEN too quickly! No photographic evidence! Ha!
Lovely!!
What a fabulous idea. I love new potatoes, especially roasted. This is a great new way to serve them. Thanks for the tip.
i made these too after reading that post! they are really good with from lavender ground up and sprinkled over them.
those are so pretty and simple. looks awesome :]
ah ha!
it never occured to me to cook potatoes in the pressure cooker!! Good thinking!
Oh, yum, yum, yum! I’m also thinking maybe a sprinkle of nutritional yeast? I will try this soon. Thanks for posting.
I wondered why you haven’t blogged in a while. I can understand that as a food blogger you eventually run out of ideas, and even though you have given Pioneer Woman credit for the recipe, I am a little disappointed that you couldn’t come up with something original.
We come to your blog for originality, if you are pressed for time, why not wait until you have thought up something new, before posting?
What kind of pressure cooker do you have (size and brand)? Love my Magefesa 6L!
I have the 5L Kuhn Rikon, which was recommended to me highly by Susan of FFVK. I love it!
I adore this recipe too. Think it comes from Jill Duplieux originally. Tend to adore all of her recipes.
Have to say though, my own attempts at these have never looked as wonderful as that first photo of yours! Gorgeous.
PS Believe I am not alone in disagreeing completely with the previous comment from Joe. I love your original recipes but am also delighted to read about dishes inspired by or simply borrowed from other sources. :)
Thanks Wendy. :) I’m not too worried about Joe. 99% of my content original, but even if I just reviewed recipes all day, I provide this blog for my readers for free. If he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t need to read it!
oh. my.
i need to make these toNIGHT. this is one of those perfect “why didn’t *i* think of that” recipes. thank you.
This looks delicious! I must try them soon!
Wow and yum. Not to mention, I have total food photography envy. You have skils!
Oh. My. Gosh.
I need to make these now!
This un-recipe really turns humdrum potatoes into beautiful little parcels of olive oily goodness! I could see a little cheese going a long way here, too. Gorgeous pictures :)
Lovely pics!
Question: do you think this would work with sweet potatoes? Is it possible to boil a sweet potato? Thoughts?
Man, if I wasn’t afraid of using so much oil, I would make these in a heartbeat. I love potatoes in every form. Well done.
Oh gosh Joe … stop being an arse! What’s wrong with spreading yummy eats around the blogosphere?!!!
Celia,
Over 4,000 people have already read the original on Pioneer Woman. Vegans come to Vegan Yum Yum for something original. I knew everyone would gang up on me for speaking my mind, but think about it: If you subscribed to The Pioneer Woman and then find the exact same recipe on Vegan Yum Yum, you have to wonder…even the drizzles on the pan are the same zig zag shape.
Yes, these are lovely pictures, but they are so similar to Pioneer Woman’s pics. If you want to copy someone then fine, copy them, but you can’t expect every single subscriber to think you are fantastic for cut and pasting a blog post.
mm that’s yum!
Thanx so much for sharing! I don’t generally read Pioneer Woman’s blog since as a vegan a lot of her “Cowboy style” food doesn’t really appeal to me! But these are fabulous and I would have missed out on making this great food tonight had you not chosen to share this wonderful recipe! U rock and never mind what haters like Joe say!
I’m really into steaming potatoes… I’ll confess, the pressure cooker kind of scares me. I just know I’ll hurt myself some how. =D
Well let’s see Joe, The Pioneer Woman is not a vegan site, and this one is. That means a lot of people who read this site, aren’t going to read that one. Not sure what you’re going for with this argument.
This recipe looks delicious and I’m looking forward to making it!
Argh. I am not a hater. I am just pointing out those who subscribe to one blog and then see the same blog on another, wonder why it has been copied, when the owner of the second blog is extremely talented and usually creates her own recipes. That’s all I am trying to say. But hey thanks for jumping to conclusions that I am an “arse” and a “hater”.
And to Lolo, yes, you give this blog to your viewers for free, but so do 99.9% of blog owners. I didn’t see your point there. Who charges for blogs?
Good bye and Good luck!
Joe, I’m sorry you were disappointed in this post.
Other readers, thanks for the support.
Everyone: it’s just one potato recipe! Let’s move on! It’s… er… small potatoes!
(Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.) :)
These look great. I bet they would be good with indian seasonings as well. I think my mom would like these even more than myself. Especially with the all the salt and oil. Mmm.
This combines my two favorite blogs on the internet!! Fabulous! I made your banana cake the other day. My family raved about it. And they aren’t even vegans :)
Well, I like ‘em and by the way, different potatoes were used so not entirely the same. And Lolo, didn’t you use a pressure cooker – that is different as well. I love potatoes and look forward to making both versions!
Simply beautiful! Thanks for sharing your inspiration! :)
I saw them there too … you did a great job!
What a gorgeous photo for such a simple dish! Yum.
I really appreciate your posting this. I don’t have a ton of time to check out blogs, so this and the ppk are the only food blogs I regularly look at. So, in my opinion, it’s really helpful when you post amazing things you’ve found from other blogs, especially those that many vegan readers might not see!
P.S. Made the eggplant lasagna last night…MAN. So good I’m planning a dinner party around it!
Pioneer Woman makes me laugh, too!
Let’s see, Joe, Pioneer Woman got it from Trish, who got it off another blogsite. I would never have read those sites, and am very happy that I found the recipe here.
The pics here make these look delicious – can’t wait to try them.
Fabulous! I love the simplicity! I imagine other flavours would go nicely too… cumin, paprika..mmm!
I made these tonight. I actually precooked the potatoes in the microwave, because in the middle of first cooking phase, I ended up taking my cat to the vets.
I used ordinary potatoes (I don’t know what kind they were) and I used dried dill. Both Hubby and son loved them. Thanks for the recipeless recipe. Original or not, it was fantastic and I wouldn’t have found it if you hadn’t had it on your blog.
It looks so delicious! yum yum!
A great, tasty and simple recipe! I haven’t got any ideea of what to cook today but now I know. Thanks Lauren! :-)
This recipe is one reason I absolutely love your blog!!! What a great, easy, simple AND yummy recipe!!! Found your site in a Meat out Monday news letter and so happy I did! Thanks and stay warm!
These look so comforting. I’m not sure who Pioneer Woman is, but she doesn’t sound very comforting.
Stunning. And I bet they were absolutely fantastic.
I wish I were at home so I could make these RIGHT NOW.
Mmm. Potato.
I have been making these at least once a week since last fall! They are AMAZING with garlic and a dash of cayenne pepper. Thank you for posting this. I love seeing everyone share the crashy goodness.
Nice. I love simple (and vegan) recipes. Best part is that you can scale this up or down easily. Thanks for a great site and recipes.
Those were amazing, though mine did not look as good as the ones in the photo
thanks for the recipe
Goes to show the easiest/simplest is sometimes the best.
This is one of those recipes from the mags you just browse through and when you read about it elsewhere it looks all the more special and interesting. Your potatoes look tasty and very appetizing. And ofcourse beautifully photographed!
Love this! And I love the iphone app. I just downloaded it and it’s amazing!
haha…there are a lot of things i make where i have to close my eyes when i’m adding in the oil. sometimes it’s just necessary! these look delicious, by the way.
That is a great idea!!! I love boiled potatoes, but I love crispy baked ones even more. This is the best of both worlds and they’re really pretty on a fancy plate.