Crispy Potatoes and Sunchokes

with Carrot-Hazelnut Romesco

Makes 4 servings

My favorite sauce—chunky carrot-hazelnut romesco—makes another appearance here, complementing a duo of root vegetables. You only need to add a piece of protein to turn this side into a meal; the romesco tastes great with pretty much anything.

Crispy Potatoes and Sunchokes

• 8 ounces Butterball or baby potatoes
• Kosher salt
• 8 ounces sunchokes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch obliques
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 450°F and place a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet. In a medium saucepan, cover the potatoes with 1 inch of water and salt the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the potatoes until tender. Drain and let dry. When cool enough to handle, break the potatoes apart with your hands into 1-inch chunks.

Meanwhile, In a medium bowl, toss the sunchokes with the olive oil, 1¼ teaspoons salt, and the pepper. Spread on the rack and roast until just tender and lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes.

In a medium saucepan, heat 2 inches of vegetable oil to 360°F. Add the potatoes and fry until golden brown and crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Return the oil to 360°F and fry the sunchokes until golden brown and crispy, 1 to 2 minutes.

For Serving

• ⅓ cup Carrot-Hazelnut Romesco
• Crispy Potatoes and Sunchokes
• 4 teaspoons chopped Pickled Red Onions
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Lemon wedge
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallion greens
• 1 tablespoon chopped mint
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• Flaky sea salt

Spread the romesco on the bottom of a serving plate or shallow bowl. Top with the potatoes, sunchokes, and pickled onion. Drizzle with olive oil and squeeze a lemon wedge over the top. Sprinkle with the scallions, mint, parsley, and flaky salt and serve.

The Takeaway

Air circulation is the key to both evenly browning and crisping vegetables, so I almost always use a wire rack when roasting vegetables. When you roast vegetables directly on the pan, you end up roasting the top half of the vegetable and steaming the bottom half (and you risk burning the bottom of the vegetable before it’s finished cooking as well). Yes, you can always stir ingredients to help them brown more evenly, but a rack will save you from going through the trouble.