These zesty lemon smashed potatoes are crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle and all tangled up with bright peas & herbs for a lighter, Spring-y take on spuds.
MARINADE: Preheat the oven to 425 F / 220 C with a rimmed baking sheet on the middle rack. Zest one of the lemons before squeezing for juice and reserve the zest for later, covered with a little plastic wrap to keep it from drying out. Juice the lemons and whisk together the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper in a bowl, adding the potatoes and tossing to coat in the marinade.
ROAST: Once the oven comes to temperature, spread the marinated potatoes out in a single layer on the preheated baking sheet, drizzling them with any marinade left in the bowl. Roast for 30 minutes & remove from the oven to a trivet.
DEFROST: While the potatoes are in the oven, pop the peas into a bowl with plenty of room and cover them with about a 1 inch / 2.5 cm or so of room temperature water. Set aside to defrost. If the water re-freezes, drain the now cold water and top off again.
SMASH: Use a spoon to gently squish each now tender potato – careful of the hot baking sheet! – so that they lay flat on the sheet, then return them to the oven to roast for 10 minutes.
CRISP: Carefully flip each smashed potato over and, if you like, for extra crispy potatoes, mist them lightly with a little extra olive oil in an oil sprayer bottle. Return the potatoes to the oven and roast until crisp on the outsides and fluffy in the middle, about another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest them on the tray for a few minutes to cool slightly.
TOSS: Drain the defrosted peas through a strainer, then add them straight to the hot baking sheet with the potatoes. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice or salt if you like, then toss to warm through gently.
PLATE: Transfer the smashed potatoes & peas to a platter and top with the reserved lemon zest, chopped herbs and dollops of yogurt just before serving.
I like to cook frozen peas barely at all, since they’re blanched before being frozen and so are already part-cooked. Here they just get a quick warm through on the hot baking sheet to keep that lovely fresh pop when you bite into them. If, however, you like your peas with a little more cook time on ’em, cover them with some just-boiled water for a minute or so, then drain and toss them with the potatoes per the recipe above.
Find it online: https://meatified.com/spring-smashed-potatoes/