A couple of months ago I chanced upon some gorgeous looking purple potatoes on the web. I was deeply fascinated. Purple and potatoes? It seemed like nature conspired to grant one of my silly fantasies! I quickly put them on my list of things that I need to get when I’m traveling (or someone else is, on grounds that they won’t judge me when I ask them to carry purple potatoes).
You can imagine my happiness when I found them at Dean and Deluca in NYC – I grabbed them instantly! (Let’s ignore their steep price for now; and a word of advice –buy them from your farmer’s market instead). I was elated at having made the most unusual purchase of the day and the feeling was fortified by the “Oh wow, they’re really potatoes?” I got from my folks there.
Being super precious potatoes for me, I wanted to try something different with these. Rosemary was the one herb on my mind for quite some time to make with these beauties. I decided to make it Pioneer Woman style. I boiled the potatoes and bashed them up a little on the cooking sheet while they were still warm. Then instead of using just regular olive oil, I made some garlic infused olive oil after my last spud success. Just perfect, I thought. You see, garlic makes me happy.
Then, I topped it with some chopped rosemary and pink peppercorns (why not go all the way?) and seasoned it with a little more salt and pepper. Tossed this into the oven for a good 20-25 minutes and they were done!
Oh and you want to have a little fun? Squeeze a little lime juice on the potatoes and see the potatoes blush! They turn a lighter and brighter shade of fuschia.
These turned out beautifully; crispy on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside. But in case you’re wondering, the Garlicky Baked Fries still remain my favourite kind of spuds.
Herby Purple Potatoes
24 oz/700g purple potatoes
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp rosemary
1 tbsp pink peppercorn, ground
Sea salt
Lime
- Boil the potatoes with salt.
- Transfer the boiled potatoes on a baking sheet while still warm. Bash them up lightly with a potato masher, until it has flatted out.
- Warm the olive oil with garlic until it is fragrant. About 1 minute.
- Pour the hot oil over the potatoes.
- Sprinkle with the rosemary, pink peppercorns and salt.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 450°F/230°C for 20-25 minutes. Turn over half way through baking.
- Serve warm.
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
OMG at those colours in that second picture!
Gorgeous looking potatoes…m drooling over them right now…pls send some to me:)
Good heavens! And they blush with lemon juice…:-D
Wow, i had never heard of purple potatoes before, they look lovely!
Oh wow what a colorful and herby dish….
SO SO pretty! My son just pointed out purple potatoes the other day and I should have listened to him & picked them up!
Lovely dish! I’ve never bought raw purple potatoes, but I always lug back packs of Blue Potato Chips from New York (actually I used to, before I spotted them at Hypercity)
Simran: Oh I didn’t know we get them at Hypercity! Will get them the next time I go there. Thanks for the heads up on that
Yum! They look like the Shetland black potatoes I found at my local supermarket a few months ago. When I cut them open, they looked quite similar to the ones in your photo. Delicious!
purple potatoes are so cool!
wow this is new, but they do look pretty.
The colour is out of this world. And I know the lemon juice trick
I am a big fan of these little gems – I made gnocchi out of them and I would do it again.
This looks delicious!
oh i have to try this! i just picked up some purple potatoes myself and these just look to lovely not to try. thanks!
I love how the colour of this dish works with the colour scheme of this blog!
Kelly: give them a shot!
Cynthia: I love it when I find purple foods
What gorgeous photos! I used to be able to get purple potatoes but not anymore. I love them!
ok, I have searched EVERYWHERE and can't find purple potatoes in Raleigh, NC. Anyone? Help! I love potatoes and the color purple. Gotta have 'em!
I see you have a Trader Joes in Raleigh. I buy variety packs of organic, red and purple potatoes at Trader's for really cheap out here in California. They might might carry them in Raleigh as well. Good luck. BTW, making beer potatoes out of purple potatoes might be sacrilige to some, but I do it using that variety bag and an IPA and they are delicious.
I'm making these right now! I have a blend of red, white and purple potatoes.
These look delicious. I don't know that I have ever seen purple potatoes. I am going to look for them, though.
And I agree with you…those garlicky baked fries are still my favorite way to eat potatoes. I have that wsame receipe from Lottie + Doof and I have made them several times. Every time is as good as the last.
Nothing can match up to those mean garlicky baked fries!
Celebrated my parents 44th Anniversary tonight with your potatoes. I had to make a few changes. I didn't have the pink pepper corns, but they came out great with course ground black pepper. Also I didn't turn them over. I really enjoyed the difference in texture from that. (Crisp on the bottom, fluffy on the top.) One of your comments (from pRiyA) suggested lemon so I gave each serving a squeeze as I served it. They were the highlight of a meal that included rib eye steaks grilled Tuscan style with olive oil, salt, and pepper; Spinach salad with fresh bacon bits, onion, hard boiled egg, and heirloom tomato with a hot sweet vinaigrette; and Cantaloupe wrapped in Prosciutto De Parma drizzled with olive oil, a touch of sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
Hey David, thanks for the details of the menu of your parents anniversary. EVERYTHING sounds so delicious! I am so happy to know that everyone enjoyed them.
I made this simple recipe from my home grown purple potatos and was very, very happy with the recipe. I think the lime really makes it POP! Thank you Shaheen!
Mynette: I am SO happy you enjoyed it! I wish i could grown my own potatoes as well.
thanks 4 the recipe. I am a gourmet caterer and Iam always looking 4 new ways to prepare my fave potatoes. I can eat them cooked any way , any time of day !
oooh thanks so much for this, i am the very happy recipient of a big bag of violet potatoes and looking for a recipe that is easy but still has "wow…those are purple potatoes!!!" factor. trying this tonight!
I found purple potatoes at the Whole Foods stores in St. Louis….I like them cause they are a nice change from sweet potatoes & are also sweet.
I feel that they do not microwave as well & are better boiled.
These look so inviting. are they available in Bombay anywhere ?
I’m growing purple spuds this year, had some Pemberton organic purples and a couple of them went seedy, so I threw them in the garden patch and, man oh man, have they grown!!! Took over a whole patch, from just 4 small potatoes. I LOVE purple potatoes!! They make great potato salad (use eggs and poppy seeds with red onion and mayo, just delish). Love your recipe, looks wonderful. I cook these with fresh rosemary too.
Am looking forward to my crop, the tops of the plants are starting to wilt, am told to start digging about two weeks after the tops die back. Can’t wait!
Also can’t wait to try your lovely recipe.
Thanks!
I am trying your lovely recipe right now!
Had a great surprise today, when I went out to check my purple spuds. The plant tops have started to die back (and by the way the tops made many “berries” which I have picked and am drying), so I went out to just have a look and saw all these bulging spots around the plants which turned out to be VERY big purple spuds, some the size of bakers! Picked about 10, from right at the ground, then did some research and found that I am likely to have a bumper crop, as when that happens, the spuds start pushing up above the ground. This of course has delighted the hubby and me, so we are now cooking up the herbie blue recipe with fresh rosemary and garlic from the garden and some chopped hot peppers from the garden – this will be our first meal with spuds that we grew ourselves and we are looking forward to digging for the treasure that remains in the patch! But right now, I have to go, because the amazing smell coming from the oven is totally mouth-watering and I have to go eat them. Think I’ll dab a bit of real butter on the top just to complete the experience.
Thanks again recipe poster!
Hey Beverly,
Would love to see the photos of your harvest as well as what you’ve cooked up (shaheen@purplefoodie.com)!
I’m sooo excited about you being able to eat from your garden. I’ve just planted some purple basil seeds and keep checking on them everyday.
Enjoy your spuds!
Just made these! Thanks for posting this recipe! Loved them….!
I just read that these will help lower blood pressure for folks with hypertension.
Just made your recipe for purple potatoes! They were a huge hit, no leftovers! Even my super picky kid ate them up, with no threats:) thanks so much!
{ 5 trackbacks }