Mary Berry shares roast potato recipe for a 'fluffy' middle and 'crunchy' coating

Roast potatoes are a favourite food all year round and during the festive period people take extra measures to make sure they are as tasty as possible for Christmas dinner. Making a perfect roast potato with the inside fluffy and outside crispy can be a difficult task to achieve.

Mary Berry has offered advice for how to make 'ultra crispy' roast potatoes with a fluffy middle. Mary recommends "par-boiling and roughing them up before roasting gives a lovely crunchy exterior and the semolina adds an extra crunchy coating."

The recipe is designed to serve six people and can be made up to 12 hours ahead of serving. This will save a lot of time on Christmas morning when you are hectic with other chores.

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Ingredients:

• 1.5kg old potatoes, peeled and cut into medium-sized cubes

• 40g semolina

• Four tablespoons of goose fat or vegetable oil

• Three thyme sprigs

• Salt to season, optional

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.

2. Put the potatoes in a saucepan of cold salted water. Bring to the boil and boil for about 5 minutes, until starting to soften around the edges

3. Drain in a colander until completely dry, then put back into the saucepan and shake to roughen up the edges. Sprinkle in the semolina and shake again until coated

4. Preheat a large shallow roasting tin in the oven until hot. Add the fat to the tin and heat for 5 minutes until smoking. Carefully add the potatoes, turn in the fat until coated and scatter over the thyme sprigs

5. Return to the oven and roast for about 45–55 minutes until golden brown and crisp, turning the potatoes halfway through the cooking time. Serve piping hot