Have yourself a delicious, waste-free Christmas: top tips from one of our local potato suppliers

Tim, of Buxton Potato Company, answers a very important festive question – what makes the ultimate roasty?

This Christmas may not be the one we’d all hoped for but there are still lots of things we can do to make the festive season feel special. As we count down to Christmas Day, we’ve been sharing some top tips from our fantastic Sourced Locally suppliers on making delicious festive food that will add a touch of magic to our dinner tables (however small they may be!).

Last week Emma Tacon, one of our local sprout suppliers, shared her secrets to preparing this seasonal staple. This week one of our local potato suppliers is answering a very important festive question – what makes the ultimate roasty?

We’re proud to be partnered with more than 100 fantastic local suppliers across East Anglia who stock our stores with over 2,500 different products. With people relying on local food more than ever this year, a Christmas dinner table full of food grown and produced on our doorsteps will feel especially magical. As well as being champions of locally produced food we’re passionate about reducing food waste. That’s why we’ve been speaking to some of our local suppliers of fresh festive food favourites to get their tips on how to make delicious recipes for Christmas Day, with ingredients that can be enjoyed through Boxing Day and beyond too.

Meet one of our local potato suppliers…

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a roasty, which is why our local producers have been working as hard as ever to make sure our shelves are stocked with fresh, tasty potatoes. When you next pop into your East of England Co-op make sure you look out for Sourced Locally potatoes grown in East Anglia by producers like Buxton Potato Company.

Buxton Potato Company, Norfolk

Since the 1930s, three generations have farmed the land at Dudwick Farm near Buxton, Norfolk, harvesting potatoes, cereals and sugar beet on beautiful fertile farmland in the county they love. 

They began grading and bagging potatoes in 2004. Their focus was simple; to supply local, fresh and tasty potatoes direct to customers. This led to the birth of Buxton Potato Company.

Read more about our Sourced Locally producers.

How to prepare the perfect roast potato and make the most of leftovers

By Tim, Buxton Potato Company

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 6
2. Peel and cut your Buxton potatoes into good sized pieces
3. Par boil in salted water until they fall off the point of a knife
4. Drain the potatoes and give them a good shake in a colander to fluff up the outside
5. Put into a good-sized roasting tray with either goose/duck fat or sunflower/vegetable oil
6. Put into the oven for 20 mins then take out and carefully turn each potato before returning to the oven
7. After another 20 mins take them out again and give the tray a good shake to ensure none are stuck to the tray
8. Return to the oven until golden brown (around 40 to 60 mins in total depending on the oven)

Turn your leftover roasties into a delicious Boxing Day comfort food meal…

One of the best, and most traditional, things to do with any leftover roasties is to squash them down flat and add to a bubble and squeak mixture using left-over vegetables, stuffing, pigs in blankets. Then eat, drink and be merry, fall asleep watching a film you didn’t want to watch, and eat again!