When you think of Cuban food and side dishes, you're probably going to think of white rice and black beans right off the bat. And you'd be absolutely right. Black beans and rice are totally the quintessential Cuban side dish.
But we Cubans eat potatoes. We eat lots of potatoes. In fact, we love potatoes.
Only we call them papas.
As in Papa Rellenas Recipe or Carne con Papas Recipe. We even put papas on our Cuban sliders which we call Fritas Recipe.
Seriously. We Cubans love us some papas!
Here's my recipe for Roasted Potatoes or Papas Asadas. (Ah-SAH-Dahs – Isn't that just fun to say?)
Papas Asadas Recipe
(Roasted Potatoes)
- 6-7 Yukon Gold Potatoes (coarsely chopped into medium pieces – you can use any kind of potatoes. I like the Yukon Gold because a: they have a wonderful texture and flavor and b: I recently bought a 20 lb. bag at Costco, but that's not important right now.)
- 1/4 cup olive oil (okay, so I don't really measure, but it's a really good educated guess. =D)
- 1 tsp. Pimentón (which adds both color and flavor – you can substitute paprika if you like)
- 3 cloves garlic – crushed
- 1/2 tsp. ground thyme
- Fresh Rosemary (you can use dried, of course. I have lots of wild rosemary growing in my garden. I'm cool that way.)
- Sea salt
- Coarse ground pepper
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2) Mix all ingredients in a large (quart size) ziplock.
3) Smoosh everything together. (Yes, smoosh is the technical term. =D)
4) Pour coated potatoes into a 9×13 inch Pyrex baking dish.
5) Bake in a hot (425 degree) oven for 20 minutes.
6) Stir the potatoes and put back in oven for another 20 minutes. (Total cooking time is 40 minutes.)
7) Serve HOT!
Goes great with anything, but especially Pescado a la Plancha (Cuban-style Sauteed Fish Fillets).
You can find that recipe over at Babalú blog around lunchtime today. (Yes, I do that on purpose. =D)
And to think I was using the Lipton Onion Soup Mix for my roasted potatoes all this time. Thanks Marti, I’ll try this right away. Got to get some of that thyme!
Mmmmm, papitas sauteed in some picadillo, yummy!xoxo