In the last year, I had these at a restaurant in the U.S. — probably with a burger, which I seem to eat all the time when I’m in Texas — and I thought at the time that I needed to modify the idea for an oven-baked tater, thereby making it healthy(ish), rather than a not-so-good-for-you and much maligned fried food.
Plus oven fries are easier and less messy than fries, which is the real reason why I do them this way. Laziness, people! In my world, this is the mother of invention.
I figured, how hard could it be to make these at home?
Um, not.
But are they delicious and crisp as all proper fried fries should be? Well, let me just say that between X and me, we ate ALL of these in one sitting (and yes, you’ll see that the recipe makes enough for four).
Parmesan Oven Fries
Makes enough for 4 people
- 2 pounds/1 kilo of potatoes, cut into French fry shapes
- about 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- sea salt and pepper
- ¼ cup/25 grams of freshly grated Parmesan
- about 2 tablespoons of fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F/230°C and line a largeish cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Put the potatoes on the large cookie sheet, drizzle with the olive oil, and toss with your hands, making sure to evenly spread out the potatoes. Sprinkle with some sea salt and pepper and slide into the oven and bake for about 45 minutes, making sure to check on them frequently and toss them to the other side so they brown evenly.
3. When your fries are cooked, take them out of the oven, generously sprinkle Parmesan and parsley all over them and serve right away while they’re still hot. (If you want to be fancy, you can stand them up like soldiers in some cute vintage flea market metal cups, lined with little parchment squares, like I did here.)
