Skip to main content

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.
Read More
Keep this easy frittata recipe on hand for quick breakfasts, impressive brunches, and fridge clean-out meals.
Like miso-peanut hibachi chicken and spring orzotto.
Like José Andrés’s paella and not one but two chicken stir-fries.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Filberts, goobers, scaly bark nuts: Explore the world beyond almonds in this guide.
A crowd-friendly, crisp-edged chicken and vegetable rice from chef José Andrés.
This sauce is slightly magical. The texture cloaks pasta much like a traditional meat sauce does, and the flavors are deep and rich, but it’s actually vegan!
This is the type of soup that, at first glance, might seem a little…unexciting. But you’re underestimating the power of mushrooms, which do the heavy lifting.