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Baked Potatoes and Tomatoes

You need waxy new potatoes for this. Large ones can be quartered, baby ones can be left whole or cut in half. I don’t bother to peel the very small ones. Serve hot or cold.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    serves 6

Ingredients

1 pound tomatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt
1/4–1/2 teaspoon ground chili pepper or flakes
8 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds waxy new potatoes, peeled and quartered or cut in half
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Put the tomatoes in a baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar, salt, and chili pepper. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and sprinkle in a little more salt. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 50–60 minutes.

  2. Variation

    Step 2

    There is a similar dish in Morocco called batata hzina, which means “sad potatoes.” Add 1/2 teaspoon cumin and 1/2 teaspoon ginger to the above. Sweet potatoes are treated in the same way.

    Step 3

    For a Turkish dish for 6, fry 2 chopped onions in 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil till soft. Add 2 more tablespoons oil and mix with 1 1/2 pounds new potatoes, peeled, boiled, and quartered. Add 4–6 chopped garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon cumin, the peeled and chopped tomatoes, a handful of black olives, 3 sprigs oregano, and 1/2–1 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes. Bake 45–60 minutes at 400°F.

Cover of Claudia Roden's The New Book of Middle Easter Food, featuring a blue filigree bowl filled with Meyer lemons and sprigs of mint.
Reprinted with permission from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food, copyright © 2000 by Claudia Roden, published by Knopf. Buy the full book on Amazon or Bookshop.
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