Carmela Soprano's Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic and Anna Sultana's Roasted Potatoes, Maltese Style

Okay...  The Fried Mozzarella Sticks was not the only Soprano dish I served on Thanksgiving.

I was cooking a 9 kilogram turkey.

The oven was on for an awfully long time.

Couldn't let all that heat go to waste.

In Carmela's Entertaining with The Sopranos there was a recipe for Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic in the Fit For A Bride chapter.

If it were me, I'd have stuck this recipe in the Graduation Parties - it's great for hungry teens - or the Dinner for Twelve chapter.

I have never seen a bride, starving herself for the big day, deciding, "Oh, the hell with it.  I want a platter of roasted potatoes.  He'll take me as I am.  I don't give a damn how I look in the wedding pictures."

Yeah, right.

Sometimes I wonder about Carmela.  

Maybe she has a weird sense of humor.  I wouldn't blame her.  The girl's been through a lot of stressful times.  

But, Fit For A Bride?  Maybe Carmela had it in for Adrianna.  Maybe Carmela cooked this up for one of her sister-in-law Janice's many weddings.

Maybe Janice was reacting to being too big for her wedding dress when she bumped off her boyfriend Richie.

Don't get me wrong.  Roasted Potatoes are fine.  And easy.

Small boiling potatoes, about 4 pounds, are peeled and halved, then placed in a single layer in a large roasting pan.  

They are then tossed with

1/3 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary  

salt and pepper

They're roasted at at 400º for 30 minutes.

Then 2 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced, are stirred in, and the potatoes are roasted
another 20 to 30 minutes, until they are brown and tender.
Serve hot.

Ma roasted potatoes regularly when we had a big holiday dinner.  She wasn't as big on spices as Carmela.  Salt and pepper were enough for her.  She also had mashed and baked potatoes on the table, too, along with lots of vegetables.

That was Ma's rule:

Fill up on veggies and potatoes and leave some of the roast for leftovers.

  

Maybe I'm hardwired to roast potatoes when I'm roasting a turkey. too. 

Would I make roasted potatoes again?  Sure.

It's an oldie and a goodie.

Salt and pepper are enough for me.

Another recipe down.  Forty-one more to go.