Recipe: Roasted Russets with Chipotle Aioli

Roasted Russets
with Chipotle Aioli

Serves 6 to 8
Total time: 45 minutes

This recipe was inspired by one of our favorite Ithaca restaurants—Just a Taste Wine & Tapas Bar. We love munching crisp potatoes out back on their flagstone patio. We've adapted their treat by slicing the potatoes into easy-to-eat wedges and oven-roasting rather than frying them. Russets are good-sized baking potatoes with coarse, tasty skins. Our aioli made with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and fresh garlic is pretty spicy. At home, most of us make our own mayonnaise, but this throw-together recipe uses prepared mayo, so you can labor less on Labor Day. Leftover aioli keeps for a week or more when tightly covered and refrigerated.

Potatoes

6 russet potatoes, each scrubbed and cut lengthwise into 6 to 8 wedges
1/4 cup vegetable oil or cooking spray
1/8 teaspoon salt

Chipotle Aioli

1/2 to 2/3 cup prepared mayonnaise
1 to 2 tablespoons chipotles in adobo sauce*
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 large garlic clove, minced or pressed
1/8 teaspoon salt

*These spicy hot, smoky peppers are available preserved in tangy adobo sauce. Look for jars or cans of them in the produce section of large supermarkets. Adobo sauce is a thick, spicy purée of tomatoes, vinegar, onions, sugar, and spices.

Preheat the oven to 4000. Lightly oil a large baking sheet.

In a large bowl, coat the potato wedges with oil, sprinkle with the salt, and spread them evenly in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, or until light brown on one side. Turn them over with a spatula and roast for about 15 minutes more, until browned.

Meanwhile, place 1/2 cup of the mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon of the chipotles, the lime juice, garlic, and salt in a mini-food processor or blender and whirl until smooth and well combined. Blend in more chipotles and/or mayonnaise to taste. Spoon the aioli into a small bowl and chill until serving time.

When the russets are roasted, arrange them on a platter with the aioli in the center and serve hot.

from:
Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates
Festive Meals for Holidays and Special Occasions
by the Moosewood Collective
$25.95, ISBN: 0-609-80811-7 Clarkson Potter / Publishers
Recipe reprinted by permission.

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