Papas Arrugadas – Easy Recipe (Canary Islands)

You’ll be hard pushed to find a Canarian restaurant that doesn’t serve papas arrugadas. They are personal favourites of ours, and go fantastically with fresh fish and a bit of salad… as well, of course, with some mojo verde (recipe to be found here: Mojo Verde Recipe) or mojo rojo

Ingredients (serves 4 as a side dish)

• 1 Kg small potatoes
• 1/3 cup coarse sea salt (Yes, really!)

Method

• Put potatoes in a single layer in a wide pot. Add water to half way up the potatoes (not quite covering the smaller ones).
• Add the sea salt (the traditional method used sea water)
• Bring the water to a boil and cover the pot with a tea towel (take care the tea towel doesn’t come into direct contact with the flame, or electric element)
• Reduce heat to medium, and cook for about 15 minutes until done (the water will evaporate a lot. Don’t top it up)
• The skins will begin to wrinkle slightly.
• Drain by carefully pouring the excess water out of the pot directly (very carefully… as you want as much of the salt to remain as possible)
• Turn the heat down the lowest it will go. Put the pan back onto this low heat. It will start to dry the potatoes.
• Shake the pot every once in a while to coat the potatoes evenly with the salt.
• Serve hot

These papas arrugadas are fantastic served on their own with mojo verde or mojo rojo, with or without their skins. However, they make such a fabulous accompaniment to fresh fish, steak or chicken and, despite the salt, are a much healthier alternative to chips.

There is an even easier method for these too… although I feel it is cheating somewhat, and it also takes quite a bit longer to cook. Pop a layer of the potatoes on a baking sheet or in a baking tray. Drizzle with a little olive oil, and sprinkle liberally with coarse sea salt. Bake, turning regularly, until the skins are crispy and the centres are soft.