Roasted Potatoes with Thyme

I found this recipe several years ago in my Vegetarian Times cookbook.  It's hardly an actual recipe, because all you do is toss some potatoes with olive oil, add some salt & pepper and fresh thyme, and bake.  What could be simpler?

But, of course, simple does not mean boring, and these potatoes are really really good.  We all love them, and they are a Passover tradition around here.  I decided the menu needed simplified years ago.  We have leg of lamb, these potatoes, peas, and unleavened bread.  We might have some pickles and olives and sometimes a salad - depending on who's coming and what they want to bring - but the main meal is just really simple, and it's just perfect that way.

Roasted Potatoes with Thyme
adapted from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients:

• Red Potatoes
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper
• Fresh Thyme

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Toss potatoes and olive oil together (1 T oil for each pound of potatoes) in baking dish
3. Add salt and pepper and then top with sprigs of fresh thyme (about 8 sprigs per pound of potatoes)
4. Cover baking dish and bake potatoes for 45 minutes (or longer), giving the dish a shake a couple times during baking.
5. Cool slightly and serve.

The small red potatoes are best, but if you use bigger ones they'll still taste good.  They may just take longer to bake, and you will probably want to cut them in half to serve.  The oven temperature can be adjusted.  For instance, I bake the lamb at 325°, and I just bake the potatoes right alongside it.  And, the longer these bake, the better they seem to get.  The potatoes almost melt in your mouth, and they're really good mashed slightly with a fork and drizzled with some of the flavored oil from the bottom of the pan.

I could not find this actual recipe on the Vegetarian Times site when I searched, but I did find a couple more recipes that look pretty good - these Salt & Vinegar Roasted Potatoes and these Garlicky Mashed Sweet Potatoes.