What's the best fat for vegetarian roast potatoes?

[StillNoFuckingEyeDeer]

Can't use goose fat, obviously. So what's best?

Thank you.

[SissySpacekAteMyHamster]

I always just use olive oil and chuck a load of garlic and rosemary in too.

[ShoeWhore]

Rapeseed oil would work well - I think it's better at v high temperatures than olive oil (although I get good results with olive oil too) - second the garlic and rosemary idea too.

Whatever you use get it really smoking hot before tipping in the parboiled and roughed up spuds and if you can cook them for a good hour in a 220-230 oven (even if just for the last bit after you take the meat out, whack it up then) Yum.

[hareinthemoon]

I use a mixture of olive and sunflower oil, really really hot as shoe says.

[SJisontheway]

Sunflower oil lovely for roasties

[Elliptic5]

Agree with shoe rapeseed oil is good.

[LittleTulip]

A really good quality olive oil and lots of it. Salt, pepper, rosemary and a bit of garlic in the tray. My vegetarian roasties are always delicious

Ooh and don't forget to mega chuff them up

[ShoeWhore]

Sorry I realise I mentioned meat!! On autopilot - anyway you might have other dishes that need cooking in the oven at a lower temp and if that's the case, give the roasties a last blast of heat.

[mrssmith79]

Agree with olive and lots of salt. Failing that I sometimes use groundnut. You've got a few weeks, get experimenting! Sure you'll have no trouble finding willing judges!

[tweetytwat]

I use rapeseed oil as my general vegetable oil, makes good roasties. Though if DH isn't joining us I prefer to use the meat juices plus a bit of oil if extra fat is needed.

[ouryve]

Cold pressed rapeseed oil works really well and gives them a nice nutty flavour. I almost always use it for roasties and I'm not vegetarian!

[MrsBungleScare]

I use olive oil, butter, salt, garlic bulbs and rosemary.

[FruitOwl]

Half and half sunflower oil and olive oil here. Great advice upthread - yy to parboiling (5 mins) and roughing up, getting oil really hot, and adding salt, pepper, garlic and rosemary. I cut mine quite small so they're really crispy, and also baste them when I add them to the oil and about 10 mins before serving. Yum!

[AnAdventureInCakeAndWine]

Olive oil or half-and-half olive and rapeseed. I tend to use the half-and-half if I'm doing them with herbs and just olive if I'm doing them without.

[StillNoFuckingEyeDeer]

Thanks everyone.

ShoeWhore - there will definitely be meat! It's for Christmas dinner. There's only one non-meat eater. Just need to make sure everything that isn't meat is suitable for her.

[ShoeWhore]

Phew that's alright then. Was a bit worried you were a strict veggie and I had mortally offended you. As you were.

[MistyB]

I think Nigella suggests tossing them in flour for extra crispyness.

[Sparrowghost]

my dad swears by clarified butter - it gets much hotter then normal butter :)

[SanityClause]

I use olive oil, but if you heat it up in the oven first, before adding the parboiled potatoes, they are lovely and crispy. I also do the Nigella thing mentioned above, but as we have to be gluten free, I use rice flour, rather than semolina.

[Snowbility]

Clarified butter would be fab - otherwise I'd use a light flavoured olive oil.

[frogspoon]

olive oil makes them lovely and crispy and golden.