POTATO WEDGES
WITH PARMESAN
PREP TIME
20 minutes
ACTIVE TIME
1 hour 40 minutes
TOTAL TIME
2 hours 10 minutes
MODERATE
These are the potatoes you make for company. The three-step process involved in making them requires a little bit of patience, but it’s sooo worth it. Soaking the potatoes to reduce the amount of starch yields nice fluffy potatoes with an extra-crispy exterior. Bringing the potatoes to a simmer very slowly in salted water seasons the potatoes from the inside out. Baking them in a super-hot oven gets them browned and crunchy. Prepare for these to disappear fast!
6 medium russet potatoes (about 4½ pounds)
½ cup (1 stick) salted butter
2 garlic cloves, lightly smashed
2 sprigs rosemary
Kosher salt
1 (4-ounce) wedge Parmesan cheese, finely grated (about 3 cups)
¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
1. Adjust one oven rack to the lower-third position and one to the upper-third position and preheat the oven to 450°F. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Cut each potato in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 3 wedges. Place them in a large pot and cover with cold water; let rest for at least 10 minutes but no more than 20.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter halfway over medium heat, then add the garlic and rosemary sprigs and cook, swirling the pan often, until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
4. Drain the potatoes and refill the pot with enough cold water to cover them by 1 inch. Season the water liberally with salt (the water should taste like the sea) and bring the water to a slow simmer over medium heat. Cook the potatoes until al dente, about 10 minutes from the time the water starts to simmer. Drain in a large colander, then divide the potatoes between the two prepared baking sheets, arranging them in a single layer and leaving at least ½ inch between each wedge.
5. Strain the garlic-rosemary butter through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl; discard the solids. Use a pastry brush to brush half the butter onto the potato wedges.
6. Bake until light golden brown and crispy, about 25 minutes, flipping the potatoes midway through cooking and rotating the pans top to bottom and front to back. Remove the baking sheets from the oven, brush the remaining garlic-rosemary butter onto the potatoes, and sprinkle a generous amount of the Parmesan on all sides. Return the potatoes to the oven and bake until the cheese is light golden brown, about 10 minutes (remove them earlier if they seem like they are beginning to burn).
7. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving; as they cool, the cheese will crisp up just like a Parmesan frico (a lacy cheese cracker). Transfer the potato wedges (and any extra frico pieces from the baking sheet) to a large platter, garnish with the parsley, and serve.
Parchment paper helps prevent these little shards from burning. Sprinkling extra cheese on the paper creates crispy, frico-style cheese crackers.