When Joanna returned from a trip to England, she filled our inbox with sunlit snaps of London, bracing seaside dips and one unexpected obsession: a plate of perfectly roasted potatoes. The photo of those crunchy, golden tubers sparked a flood of requests for the recipe, so I rang Joanna’s cousin, Livvy, and asked her to walk me through the method. Livvy calls them Dilly roast potatoes as a nod to the family patriarch, their grandfather Dilly, who taught her how to coax the ideal texture from humble spuds.
The technique is deceptively simple and rests on a few decisive moves: pick the right potato, parboil to roughen the surface, heat the oil before the potatoes hit the pan, then roast gently while turning frequently. Throughout this article I’ll preserve Livvy’s exact temperature tips (165°C / 330°F) and her practical swaps — for example, Americans can use russet or Yukon Gold in place of Maris Piper. Expect clear steps you can repeat and adapt for holiday goose fat or everyday sunflower oil.
Choose the right potato
The foundation for great roasties is the tuber. Livvy recommends Maris Piper, a British variety prized for producing a fluffy interior and a receptive exterior for crisping. If you can’t find Maris Piper, substitute russet or Yukon Gold, or whatever the supermarket labels as roasting potatoes. The key is a potato that breaks down into a soft, absorbent crumb when cooked: that fluffy interior is what contrasts with a crunchy exterior and creates the classic roast-potato bite.
Prep: peel, chop and parboil
How to cut for the best texture
Size matters: cut the potatoes into chunky pieces so they don’t dry out. For a medium potato, halving is usually enough; larger specimens can be quartered. The aim is even cooking without tiny fragments that over-crisp and dry. When you handle the pieces after parboiling, the exterior should be delicate enough to roughen slightly by shaking or tossing, which helps create more surface area for the oil to cling to. That extra texture is a big part of what makes roast potatoes sing.
Parboiling timing and purpose
Parboil — an important technical step — means partially cooking the potato in boiling water so the outside softens while the core remains slightly firm. Livvy advises a seven to ten minute window: start checking at seven minutes by inserting a fork. The fork should meet resistance at the center while the surface yields. Drain thoroughly and let the potatoes sit in a colander so excess steam escapes; that moisture loss will help the oil bubble and crisp the surface when they hit the hot pan.
Hot oil, slow roast and frequent turning
This stage is where the method diverges from quick, high-heat approaches. Livvy stresses preheating the oil in the roasting pan before the potatoes go in. She pours about 1 to 1.5 centimetres of sunflower oil into an aluminium roasting tray and slides it into an oven set to 165°C (330°F), letting the oil warm for five to ten minutes. The goal is audible sizzle when a potato is dropped in; that initial sizzle seals the surface and begins browning. Use any oil with a high smoke point; avoid olive oil for this purpose. For festive occasions, Livvy’s family will sometimes use goose fat for its rich flavor, though it’s heavier and not essential.
Turning for even color
Once the parboiled potatoes meet the hot oil, roast them gently for roughly an hour. Rather than blasting them at top temperature, keep a moderate heat and rotate the pan every fifteen minutes or so to promote even browning. This rhythm — long, patient cooking with regular turning — produces a deeply golden crust without burning, creating the contrast between the crispy exterior and the soft, airy center. Treat it like slow frying in an oven; the constant motion prevents one side from dominating the color.
Finish, season and serve
After about an hour the potatoes should be a deep golden brown and yield to a fork. Transfer them to a bowl while they’re still hot and season generously. Livvy prefers a crumbly sea salt because it adheres to the warm surface and gives a satisfying bite; flaky salt or Maldon work well too. Serve straight away while the contrast between hot, crisp edges and the fluffy interior is at its peak. These roasties are versatile alongside a simple soup, like carrot, or as an accompaniment to roasted salmon or a festive roast.
Credit to Dilly, whose quiet ritual of peeling spuds while the family was at sea became the foundation for a recipe that’s now shared at tables far from that coastline. If you try Livvy’s approach, remember the three pivots: pick a fluffy potato, parboil to roughen the surface, and roast low and long in preheated oil. The result is a humble side that feels celebratory every time.
