Roasted Greek-Style Lemon Potatoes & Meatballs

Πατατες Λεμονατες και Κεφτεδες στο Φουρνο

Today is National Potato Day! We are obsessed with potatoes, whether they are fried, mashed, roasted, in a salad, skordalia. We are definitely not fussy at all.

However, nothing screams "home" to us more than a tray of Greek-style potatoes; smothered in homemade olive oil, sprinkled with Greek mountain oregano, infused with the tang of lemony goodness and roasted to perfection.

It's the stuff that dreams are made of!

Happy National Potato Day!

There are many different ways to roast lemon potatoes and it all starts with your choice of potato.

We always use Kestrel or Sebago potatoes, but you can choose which ever starchy potato you prefer to roast with.

Kestrel potatoes are identified by the purple spots on their creamy skin. They are ideal for roasting, mashing, frying & boiling. Very versatile!

Sebago potatoes are also known as brushed potatoes and again, these are very versatile. You just need to put in a bit of extra effort to wash off the dirt...but well worth it!!

Technically these potatoes are not just roasted...more like braised. By adding lemon juice and stock to the bottom of the roasting pan, the potatoes soak up all of the juices and char and crisp on top. Yuuuuum!!

On a side note: don't expect these potatoes to be super crunchy. I have another recipe for those...

This technique gives you the best of both worlds. A soft, creamy lemony bottom with a gnarly roasted kind of crispy top.

I usually roast the potatoes until they are 2/3 cooked and then add in the meatballs, which are loaded with garlic, onion and Greek mountain oregano.

Ingredients for my Greek Style Keftedes

My mum always makes these quenelle shaped keftedes and I make them this way as well.

Once they are shaped, I place them in the fridge to firm up before cooking.

Greek Style Lemon Potatoes with Meatballs

You can see that the potatoes have absorbed all of the liquid and are now full of lemony, roasted goodness!

Serve with a Greek Salad & enjoy! Καλἠ ᾽Ορεξη!

Let's Eat! - A Collection of Family Recipes is creating a cookbook which will be released in 2021.