Cacio e Pepe Roasted Potatoes

An overhead shot of cubed golden crispy roasted potatoes with melted parmesan cheese and chives on a white rectangular serving platter with a gold serving spoon on a mustard yellow linen napkin on a wooden table

5 from 6 votes

Have you ever made Cacio e Pepe Roasted Potatoes? Because if the answer is no, we're going to need to fix that asap! This insanely crispy, cheese, salt and peppery potatoes are absolute perfection.

Prep Time10

Cook Time1 45

Total Time1 55

Course: Dinner, Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: people

Author: Gaby Dalkin

Equipment

Ingredients

4 ½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces
1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
Fresh lemon juice and zest to finish
Fresh chives to garnish
Basil

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Nestle a wire rack on top of a sheet pan and set aside.
Place the peeled and diced potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Heavily salt the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil the potatoes until fork tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes. Once drained, place a plate on top of the colander and firmly hold it down, then shake the colander as hard as you can without losing any of the potatoes until they are a bit messy. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared sheet pan and let dry for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, pour the oil onto a separate sheet pan and heat in the oven for 4-5 minutes.
VERY carefully, remove the sheet pan from the oven with the hot oil and transfer the potatoes on top of the oil. Do this very gently so the potatoes/oil don't splatter. Gently mash the potatoes with the back of a spoon or flat surface until they fill most of the sheet pan, then season with kosher salt and tons of freshly cracked black pepper. Scatter the butter over top of the potatoes. Transfer back into the oven.
Bake until the potatoes are crispy on the bottom, about 45 minutes. Give the potatoes a toss and continue to bake until they are crispy and golden almost all over, another 15-30 minutes. 5 minutes before they are done, add the cheese and place it back into the oven to melt.
Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Season with more salt and pepper, add more cheese if desired (duh) and sprinkle with the lemon juice, zest and herbs.

Notes

Prep Ahead Instructions: You can make these a day or two ahead of time no problem. Don't add the chives. And when you reheat, place them back on a baking dish, pop them into a 250 degree oven until warm and crispy again and then garnish with the chives.

Nutrition