Roasted Parmesan Fingerling Potatoes

I’ve been wanting to buy fingerling potatoes for a while, and they have finally appeared on my local supermarket’s shelves. I am a big fan of the thin-skinned new potatoes, and fingerlings have a similar skin. However, these potatoes are fully mature when harvested and have a different flavor than new potatoes. These made their appearance served alongside the bacon-wrapped tenderloin and grilled asparagus. It was an easy meal to put together, and I spent the downtime in the grass playing with the kids while things were cooking.


Fingerlings are generally sold in a mixed bag with a variety of colors and sizes. I think some of the appeal is the odd, knobby appearance. And they’re small. What is it with miniature food varieties that gets people excited? Baby carrots, key limes, mini muffins, mini burgers (burger shots, anyone?) and more.


I was looking for something that would pair well with the steak we were having, so I went in search of seasonings we had on hand. These chives somehow managed to survive winter in a pot and come up again early this spring. They’re already nice and fat. It was -14° F here this winter. We spent 80 days below zero. These are some hearty chives. For their persistence, they have the pleasure of being eaten first.


Add your olive oil and give the potatoes a good stir to coat evenly. The nice thing about using a bowl is that if you end up with too much olive oil, you can just leave the excess on the bottom of the bowl when you take the potatoes out. You’ll never even know it was there, so pour it on.


You could grate the Parmesan for a more even coverage on the potatoes. I couldn’t find my cheese grater. It happens when you let miniature (young) people unload your dishwasher. I suppose I could have chopped it up a bit, but that required effort…and a knife and cutting board, neither of which I was inclined to get out for this process.


Spread them out on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven. Now, while they’re in there, go do something else. Something outside perhaps. In the grass.


After about 20 minutes, come back inside and finely mince your garlic and chives and mix them together.


Sprinkle your mixture on your potatoes and cook another few minutes to brown the garlic. Burnt garlic is bad, and adding the garlic at the beginning would end up in a burnt garlic mess. Don’t do it.


I topped the finished potatoes with another light sprinkle of Parmesan. I was feeling impulsive. Really, they don’t need it.