Salt & Pepper Roasted Potatoes With a Pancetta Sauce

A simple roasted potato tossed with pancetta, onion and garlic, but this is really good and "just a bit different," And yes ... pepper is the key and this is so very easy. You could easily substitute bacon vs pancetta for this, but pancetta can be bought these days at most grocery store delis, and just a few pieces is all you need. A quick saute of the pancetta, onion, and garlic and you have an amazing sauce to toss the potatoes in. One note ... using kosher salt or something similar such as a good sea salt and plenty of fresh ground black pepper really does make a difference in this dish. I prefer to use baby white potatoes for this if possible. Fingerlings would also work or even baby reds - but small whites work best.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 8
• Yields: 8

Ingredients

• 24  baby white potatoes, whole (fingerlings or baby reds would also work, but the small whites work best)
• 1  tablespoon olive oil
• 1⁄2 tablespoon kosher salt (sea salt or something similar will work find)
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper (I prefer a blend of red or pink, green and black, but any fresh ground pepper will work)

• Sauce

• 2 -3  slices pancetta, fine diced
• 1  small onion, fine diced
• 1  teaspoon garlic, fine minced
• 2 1⁄2 tablespoons butter
• 1⁄2 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons fresh parsley, fine diced

Directions

1. Potatoes -- Toss the potatoes with the olive oil and lay flat on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper for easy clean up, or just right on the cookie sheet, and season well with salt and pepper. Make sure that they are well covered with salt and pepper. Bake on the middle shelf at 450 degrees until fork tender. Depending on the size, it will take 30-50 minutes. Once fork tender; remove and and cover as you make the sauce.
2. Pancetta Sauce -- Add the olive oil to a small saute pan on medium high heat. Add the garlic, onion and pancetta and saute until the onion is tender and the pancetta is golden brown and crisp, about 5-7 minutes. The pancetta will give off enough drippings so 1/2 teaspoon olive oil should be plenty. Once the pancetta is crisp, add in the butter and parsley. You can add more butter if desired, that is more of a personal preference.
3. Finish -- Add the potatoes to a serving platter and drizzle the pancetta sauce over the potatoes. ENJOY!