Potatoes Fontecchio is a delicious side dish of roasted potatoes with garlic and mint. It’s the perfect side dish to serve for Easter dinner or at any special meal!
If you saw our post from earlier this week, then you may have noticed that gorgeous platter of roasted lamb served along with some herb-roasted potatoes and green beans? The good news…today and Friday, we are sharing the recipe for those delicious side dishes – starting with today’s Potatoes Fontecchio.
We found this fantastic, flavorful roasted potatoes side dish in The Silver Palate Cookbook, and according to the notes in the recipe, Potatoes Fontecchio were developed by a chef at the authors’ popular New York restaurant.
Fontecchio is a small, medieval village in the Province of L’Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy. Like many dishes originating in Southern Italian (or inspired by Southern Italian cuisine), mint is a predominant herb in those recipes and it adds a fresh, unique flavor. Here in the United States, mint is most often associated with sweet or dessert recipes – but the Italians are onto something because mint really is a wonderful addition to savory dishes as well!
Potatoes Fontecchio is a perfect example of mint used unexpectedly in a savory recipe: New red potatoes are oven roasted until fork-tender then tossed in extra virgin olive oil along with chopped fresh mint, finely minced garlic, salt and pepper. So simple to make – and the flavors are fantastic and unique!
Potatoes Fontecchio are a perfect side dish to serve alongside your Easter lamb dinner (or any roasted meat for that matter). The flavors in this potato dish are bold – and complement the rich roasted lamb quite nicely.
Enjoy!
You may also like these other potato recipes:
- Tuscan Roasted Potatoes
- Herbed Boiled Potatoes
- Twice Baked Potatoes
- Grilled Yellow Potatoes with Mustard Sauce
- Sliced Potatoes with Herbs and Cheese
Potatoes Fontecchio
Potatoes Fontecchio is a delicious side dish of roasted potatoes with garlic and mint. It’s the perfect side dish to serve for Easter dinner or at any special meal!
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
5 pounds new red potatoes
1 1/2 cups good quality olive oil
8 large garlic cloves, very finely minced or pressed through a garlic press* (Our cloves were very large and I ended up with four tablespoons)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 loosely packed cup of fresh mint, chopped fine
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Pierce whole potatoes with a fork and place into a roasting pan, cutting any extremely large potatoes in half, and roast for two hours or until tender.
- While potatoes are roasting, in a small bowl mix oil, garlic, salt, pepper and mint and set aside.
- After the potatoes are cooked, remove from oven and cut into approximately two-inch pieces and place in a large bowl. (Cut large potatoes into quarters and small potatoes in half to get them about two inches.)
- Stir the oil once more and pour over the potatoes and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Pour out onto a serving bowl or platter and serve.
Notes
*Use a garlic press to finely mince the garlic for best results. This will avoid a strong, ‘raw’ garlic taste in the finished dish.
The chef at the Silver Palate was Joe Fontecchio himself. This delicious dish is named for him, not the village that his ancestors probably came from.
Thanks Melissa!