Ingredients:-
1.5kg medium-sized potatoes,
4 Tbsp vegetable oil,
4 garlic cloves,
1 tsp thyme, dried,
a few sprigs of rosemary,
Salt & Pepper,
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese (optional),
METHOD:-
Preheat the oven to 230°C. Smash the garlic cloves and peel off the skin and place in a baking dish with the springs of rosemary and oil.
Set a potato on a cutting board and place a chopstick on either side of the potato. With a sharp, thin knife, make deep vertical cuts 1/8-inch apart, but without cutting all the way through the potato. The chopsticks should keep you from accidentally cutting too deeply or going all the way through. Repeat with the remaining potatoes.
Place the potatoes on the baking dish and roll them around to cover them with oil. Set them cut-side-up. Then sprinkle each potato generously with salt and pepper.
Roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Then use tongs to gently squeeze the base of each potato to open up the folds. Use a pastry brush to brush the herb-infused pan oils over the top of each potato and in between the folds. Discard the garlic cloves if they are blackened.
Roast in the oven for another 30 minutes, until the largest potato is fork tender.
Remove from oven and garnish them with freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional). Serve warm.