Perfect roast potatoes

Preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6 and heat up a large roasting tin.

Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil and parboil the potatoes for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and leave to steam for 5–10 minutes to lose some moisture. Meanwhile, put the olive oil (or goose or duck fat) in the hot roasting tin and return to the oven.

Roughen the edges of the potatoes, either by scraping with a fork or tipping them back into the pan and giving them a bit of a shake.

Remove the tin from the oven, tip in the potatoes and turn them over carefully until evenly coated. Make sure they have plenty of space to brown properly.

Return to the oven and roast for 40-45 minutes until crisp and golden. Drain the potatoes on kitchen paper, season and serve.