In answer to your question – no, there truly is no way I won’t serve a potato 🤣 But c’mon, look how pretty they are!! They also taste delicious and are so simple to make. Follow me…
Slicing the potatoes
Funnily enough, this is the first recipe I’ve ever uploaded that I’ve used a mandoline for. I usually like to test my knife skills, but these require very thin and uniformly sliced potatoes.
What kind of potatoes should I use?
Any kind of baking potato works great. No need to peel them, but I recommend slicing off the ends (they’ll be too difficult to roll up).
Drying the potatoes
Once you’ve sliced the potatoes, I recommend patting them dry as best you can. Once you season them with salt they’ll start to produce water, which unfortunately is unavoidable, so removing excess moisture beforehand is a good idea.
Potato Rose Seasoning
In reality, you can season these however you fancy, but I love the combination of garlic, rosemary and parmesan! You want to finely grate the garlic into a paste and very finely dice the rosemary, just so the slices get as best coverage as possible. Process shots: slice potatoes into bowl (photos 1&2), pat dry (photo 3), mix in seasoning (photo 4).
Making Potato Roses
Making the roses is pretty straightforward. You’ll just overlap the slices by about 3/4 and tightly roll them up. It’s a little fiddly at the start, but you’ll get the swing of things. They don’t have to look perfect, so long as they’re properly rolled up.
Using Bacon
This is mainly used to keep the roses intact, although it does obviously add flavour. I initially tried rolling it up with the slices (i.e. the slices on top of the bacon) but found the bacon in the centre of the roses was chewy and essentially poached in the moisture from the potatoes. I find the bacon more useful as a ‘string’ around the outside.
Using Parmesan
I use this not only to add a boost of flavour, but also to help ‘glue’ the petals together so the rose doesn’t fall apart in the oven. I find the fresh dusty variety works best, but you can finely grate it if you’d prefer.
Baking the roses
First of all, make sure you properly grease the muffin tin, as they do tend to stick a little. I initially bake them uncovered to allow unwanted moisture to escape, then I add foil to cook them without the petals burning. Process shots: lay out potatoes and top with parmesan (photo 1), roll up (photo 2), wrap in bacon (photo 3), add to muffin tin (photo 4).
Do I have to add bacon?
I have tried them without and they don’t stay together quite as well. Still a valiant effort though, so it’s not a deal-breaker. I haven’t tried it myself, but you could loosely tie them in kitchen twine!
Do I have to add Parmesan?
This is arguably more important than the bacon, as it works as the glue. I have tried these with Cheddar, which works pretty well.
How do I know when they’re cooked?
They’ll be lightly charred around the edges and knife-tender right the way through. You can take them out during cooking to check with a sharp knife.
How do I prevent them from burning?
The foil will help prevent this, but if you find they’re browning too quickly then just lower the heat slightly and tighten up the foil.
Serving Potato Roses
I recommend using a spoon to carefully lift them from the muffin tin. I then immediately soak the muffin tin in water because there’s usually some char left in the holes. You can serve with an extra dusting of parmesan if you fancy, or even some fresh parsley! These are so great as a Side Dish to a Hearty Dinner or Date Night Dinner! Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for these potato roses shall we?!
How to make Potato Roses (Full Recipe & Video)
