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Roasted Potatoes With Anchovies and Tuna
![Roasted Potatoes With Anchovies and Tuna](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/03/25/dining/20apperex/merlin_170424801_860befa0-8049-4fde-9450-d0db4ca02451-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1½pounds baby or fingerling potatoes
- Kosher salt
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for roasting
- 6tablespoons unsalted butter (¾ stick)
- 1(2-ounce) tin anchovies, chopped (about 10 to 12 anchovies)
- 1tablespoon capers, drained
- 2garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
- 1(5- to 6-ounce) can or jar tuna, drained and flaked, or 1 (13-ounce) can chickpeas or white beans, drained
- ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh lemon juice, to taste
- 1cup chopped soft herbs, including parsley, celery leaves and dill (optional)
- ¼cup thinly sliced red onion, shallot or scallion
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium pot, cover potatoes with at least 1 inch of water, and add a generous amount of salt. Bring to a simmer, then cook until potatoes are very soft, 25 to 30 minutes. You want to overcook them a little, so the insides stay creamy when they’re roasted later.
- Step 2
Drain the potatoes, and let them cool until you can handle them.
- Step 3
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Use your hands to smash the potatoes to about ¾-inch thick and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with oil and a little salt. (The more generous you are with the oil, the crispier the potatoes will get.) Arrange potatoes in a single layer.
- Step 4
Roast until dark golden and crisp, 40 to 50 minutes, flipping them over halfway through.
- Step 5
Meanwhile, melt butter in a small pot over medium heat. Stir in anchovies and capers, and continue to cook until butter is brown and nutty. Stir in garlic and remove pan from heat.
- Step 6
Pour brown butter all over the potatoes. Add tuna (or beans) to the pan, and toss well. Season with more salt, if needed, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Scatter herbs and onions over the top and serve.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
I made this tonight for my family in the middle of a pandemic. Everyone, 4-year olds included, are every last bite. Added way more garlic, anchovies and capers to the sauce, and celery, endive and mama Lils hot peppers to the add ins and let everyone make their own melange. Next tile might throw in some olives and a haricots verts and take it a bit closer to a banging Nicoise. Thank you for a killer recipe.
Are there acceptable substitutes for anchovies?
This was great. I used Genoa yellowfin tuna canned in oil and Seasons tinned anchovies. I then used the oil from both to supplement the butter-caper-anchovy mix (backed off the butter a tad). We really liked it - however, we also really, really like anchovies; it’s possible others may find it a little overwhelming. You probably could back off to half a tin if you’re not a salty fish fanatic, but do include at least that much if you’re not a vegetarian. For vegetarians - maybe tamari miso
LOVED it! Cut way down on the butter. Used both a can of tuna and the beans. Tasted great. Nothing like a delicious meal to cheer up my husband.
Very tasty! If you heat the tray in the oven while preheating, the potatoes will brown much faster.
Bill Cooks Occasionally! You have to cook more, and devote yourself to a weekend of making recipes with anchovies, because there are truly no substitutes. Just like there are no substitutes for single malt whiskey, mushrooms, black coffee and all the other fantastic flavors we turned up our noses at as children but learned to love as adults!
Recommend tossing boiled potatoes in olive oil and salt in a bowl BEFORE smashing. So much easier to get even coverage than trying to toss potatoes in sheet pan AFTER they are smashed. Drizzle a bit of extra olive oil on top of the smashed potatoes before putting in the oven. I cooked in a convection oven and it took 15 minutes for each side to get nicely browned. I only had yellow onions, so I added them at the same time I flipped the potatoes so they would get more mellow and caramelize.
This was a surprisingly big hit! I put the tuna in the pan after pouring out the anchovy butter and tossed it with meyer lemon juice and pepper and then scattered it on top of the potatoes. I also used yellow onions instead of red sliced super thin with a mandolin.
Yum. Followed the recipe except used olive oil instead of butter (husband can’t eat). Herbs were parsley, some celery leaves (what I had) and chives (instead of scallions). Crispy, salty, umami goodness and all from what I had on hand. Great when dining options are limited and when also they’re not.
Wow! amazing flavors! Use plenty of salt as the potatoes boil. I added a can of tuna and half a can of chickpeas. After combining on the pan with the lemon juice put it back in the still warm oven for a few minutes. With the parsley and scallions it was a total treat. Definitely getting a spot in our monthly meal rotation!
Fish sauce.
I always use Spanish canned packed in Olive Oil, specially albacore from the Cantabrian Sea.
Outstanding .Added some greek yogurt mixed with lemon zest to serve under the potatoes. This will be a staple from now on.
Made this last night. I thought we had a tin of anchovies, but I was wrong. There are only two of us, so I cooked two small russet potatoes, sliced them in half, and put them sliced side down on a baking stone and smooshed them. I used the butter, capers, garlic, shallots, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Halfway through roasting them, I added some marinated bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts. Green beans rounded out the plate. Husband's response: Why haven't we had these potatoes before??
Plenty of flavor without anchovies - doubled the capers (2 tbsp)
I find I can increase the surface area to increase the crispiness and speed of the recipe if I am able to take my small potatoes and cut them across the flattest side to create two flattish disks. Then I flatten them more. I use a potato ricer or a fork pressing down on the skin side. The picture makes it look like you place the tuna on top of each piece of potato. Nope the instructions say to mix it all together and that works great. The most umami amazing recipe. Thank you Melissa Clark.
New potatoes are particularly good in this. I sliced some small new potatoes in half to make the halves most flat and thin. Then the roasting time was shorter. 16 min one side. 8 min second side. Remember that the second side goes much faster. I used lime juice instead of lemon. This is recipe is super umami and is my new favourite.
So good. I added a can of chickpeas to the pan halfway through. My potatoes were Idaho bakers cut in half, and that seemed to work, though I’ll try the fingerlings next time.
This is going to be a keeper, how easy! I doubled the tuna and served it over a bit of arugula to make it a main course. I also shaved a little Parmesan on top. It may seem like you’re really overcooking the potatoes, but that time in the oven makes all the difference.
We thoroughly enjoyed this recipe! As I am not a fan of raw onions, I used caramelized ones that I had on hand. I don’t think that the potatoes once smashed should be 3/4” thick if the goal is crispy goodness. Mine were maybe 1/2”. Lastly, I would suggest adding any beans midway through cooking the potatoes so that they can dry out a bit and turn golden. I will definitely make this again.
I didn’t have much time so I just boiled the potatoes, and warmed all the dressing ingredients (i.e., cook the garlic a bit). Tossed the potatoes in the dressing (1T butter and 1T olive oil) and then constructed a Nicoise-style salad. A nice change from my usual Dijon vinaigrette.
Adding BOTH the tuna, and a can of beans makes this a more substantial meal.
Delicious! I didn't have herbs or red onion to balance the anchovies...which is why I suspect the anchovy flavor lingered in my system for several hours. I think this would be good on a bed of arugula.
5 star recipe. Like others are saying, less butter can be used, especially if the potatoes are well-oiled before going into the oven. Other canned fish can be substituted for anchovies or tuna (although it’s a fantastic combination). My only critique is that smashing the potatoes before tossing in oil is not going to give you the neat potatoes as pictured — but that’s ok. Try oiling the taters before smashing (with a tool) onto a sheet tray, then drizzling more oil as necessary.
For oiling smashed potatoes without having them break apart: brush olive oil on sheet pan, add smashed potatoes, then brush tops of potatoes with olive oil (including sopping up some from pan itself if you put too much on the pan, like I did).
Scrumptious!!! Used anchovy oil and cut down on butter. Potatoes got super crispy and yum. Used tuna and beans. Great reheated with an egg on top for breakfast!
Love love love this recipe. I’m not a huge fan of canned tuna, but I make this with canned herring and it’s spectacular.
I’m confused by the photo in comparison to the method descriptions. The photo looks like each potato is neatly topped with ingredients but the preparation sounds like everything is just tossed together like a sheet pan meal. Which is correct?
I tossed it all together like the recipe said and just scooped stuff out of the pan into a personʻs dish. The tuna sticks with the potato even when its all mixed together. Some people are worried about the smashed potato not staying all together. Honestly the more it breaks apart the more crispy golden bits you get. So it is all good.
This recipe is amazing but the anchovies make it super salty - I think you can either halve the anchovies or put the butter sauce on the side and use it for dipping. I used Yukon gold potatoes for mine since the store was out of fingerlings, and I think it actually worked better! Just make sure you don’t use ones that are too big. I cut them in half after boiling/piling them and put them flat side down on my pan sheet; before smashing them flat w/ my masher. Crisped nicely top and bottom!
My husband and I love this one. We use white beans instead of tuna, and we toss in sautéed kale at the end, along with some finely chopped preserved lemon.
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