Oven-Roasted Potatoes Done Right: Floury Varieties, Garlic and Parsley Paste and 50 Millilitres of White Wine

Roast potatoes sound like something that doesn't need a recipe. And yet they rarely come out right: either raw inside, dried out, or soft instead of crispy. The difference isn't luck, it's three things - the variety, the size and the space in the tray.

Ingredients: 4 large potatoes, 2 cloves of garlic, fresh parsley, extra virgin olive oil, salt and 50 millilitres of white wine.

Method: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Wash and thoroughly dry the potatoes, then cut them into wedges, skin on. In a mortar, pound the peeled garlic cloves with the parsley, a good glug of olive oil and salt to taste until you get a paste. Arrange the wedges in a tray, brush them with the mixture, then pour over the white wine. Bake for 20 minutes at 160 degrees, then raise the heat to 180 degrees for another 10 minutes.

The variety is half the job. Choose floury, starchy potatoes - they turn golden and crispy on the outside and creamy inside. Kennebec and Agria are good choices. Keep the wedges a similar size so they cook at the same time: thick ones stay raw in the middle, thin ones dry out.

Oil and space. Oil helps with colour and crispness, but the potatoes shouldn't swim in it - it's enough for each wedge to be lightly coated. The most important rule: one layer, no piling up. Crammed together, the potatoes steam in their own moisture and never get crispy. The timings are a guide, because every oven bakes differently; for deeper colour, give them a few minutes under the grill at the end, keeping an eye on the tray.

Variations. Rosemary, thyme or oregano; sweet or hot paprika, black pepper, curry or a little cumin; for freshness - grated lemon zest. In an air fryer: about 190 degrees, 20 to 25 minutes, shaking the basket halfway through.

If you get bored of wedges, the same ingredient has several other faces: mash with butter and cheese, Hasselback potatoes sliced like an accordion, pan-fried pancakes made from boiled potato, thin rounds baked slowly with onion, or duchess potatoes - mash with egg yolk, piped into rosettes and baked. Few things at the market give you so much for so little money - if you know what you're doing.