Roasted Potatoes With Anchovies and Tuna
Published March 25, 2020

- Total Time
- 1½ hours, plus cooling
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1½pounds baby or fingerling potatoes
- Kosher salt
- Extra-virgin olive oil, for roasting
- 6tablespoons unsalted butter (¾ stick)
- 1(2-ounce) tin anchovies, chopped (about 10 to 12 anchovies)
- 1tablespoon capers, drained
- 2garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
- 1(5- to 6-ounce) can or jar tuna, drained and flaked, or 1 (13-ounce) can chickpeas or white beans, drained
- ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh lemon juice, to taste
- 1cup chopped soft herbs, including parsley, celery leaves and dill (optional)
- ¼cup thinly sliced red onion, shallot or scallion
Preparation
- Step 1
In a medium pot, cover potatoes with at least 1 inch of water, and add a generous amount of salt. Bring to a simmer, then cook until potatoes are very soft, 25 to 30 minutes. You want to overcook them a little, so the insides stay creamy when they’re roasted later.
- Step 2
Drain the potatoes, and let them cool until you can handle them.
- Step 3
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Use your hands to smash the potatoes to about ¾-inch thick and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with oil and a little salt. (The more generous you are with the oil, the crispier the potatoes will get.) Arrange potatoes in a single layer.
- Step 4
Roast until dark golden and crisp, 40 to 50 minutes, flipping them over halfway through.
- Step 5
Meanwhile, melt butter in a small pot over medium heat. Stir in anchovies and capers, and continue to cook until butter is brown and nutty. Stir in garlic and remove pan from heat.
- Step 6
Pour brown butter all over the potatoes. Add tuna (or beans) to the pan, and toss well. Season with more salt, if needed, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Scatter herbs and onions over the top and serve.
Private Notes
Comments
I made this tonight for my family in the middle of a pandemic. Everyone, 4-year olds included, are every last bite. Added way more garlic, anchovies and capers to the sauce, and celery, endive and mama Lils hot peppers to the add ins and let everyone make their own melange. Next tile might throw in some olives and a haricots verts and take it a bit closer to a banging Nicoise. Thank you for a killer recipe.
Are there acceptable substitutes for anchovies?
This was great. I used Genoa yellowfin tuna canned in oil and Seasons tinned anchovies. I then used the oil from both to supplement the butter-caper-anchovy mix (backed off the butter a tad). We really liked it - however, we also really, really like anchovies; it’s possible others may find it a little overwhelming. You probably could back off to half a tin if you’re not a salty fish fanatic, but do include at least that much if you’re not a vegetarian. For vegetarians - maybe tamari miso
make with two cans of tuna and a can of beans (keeping butter sauce the same) and serve it over arugula. With that we now consider it serving 4... barely :-) We love it though and will probably up the potatoes to ~700 g next time.
The second time I made this I only had large potatoes, so I cut them into cubes and roasted them at 425 until brown. Then I followed the rest of the recipe and it came out great! Just as delicious and much easier.
Oh my GOD this is completely heavenly! If you want to find a substitute for anchovies, cook something else! Anchovies were creat4ed expressly for this dish. And the red onions are exquisite.
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