Patatas Bravas - Spanish Potatoes with Tomato Sauce

Prepare all the ingredients. Wash and peel the potatoes, onion, and garlic. In season, you don't need to peel young high-quality potatoes. Wash and dry the parsley, cut off the tough stems. You can replace olive oil with odorless vegetable oil. Add hot pepper to taste. Although the sauce should be spicy, it's better to rely on your own taste and the product itself, as the spiciness of the pepper can vary. I have homemade dried medium spiciness pepper. Instead of regular sweet paprika, you can use smoked paprika. The tomatoes in their own juice should be of high quality and tasty, then the sauce will be very delicious. In season, you can prepare the sauce from fresh tomatoes. It's advisable to use aromatic wine vinegar, as it will add additional flavor to the overall composition. You can replace wine vinegar with natural apple vinegar. It's better not to use regular table vinegar, it's better to cook without it. If the tomatoes are slightly sour, add vinegar to taste or exclude it.

Cut the potatoes into random pieces, about 2-2.5 cm each. In a large bowl, mix 2 tbsp of olive oil, 0.5 tsp of paprika, salt, black pepper, and add the potatoes. Mix well, you can do it with your hands, and spread them in a large baking dish or on a baking sheet in a single layer. You can line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Spreading the potatoes in a single layer is necessary in order to evenly bake and cover them with a crispy golden crust. Otherwise, the potatoes will stew and the crust will not form. Bake in a preheated oven until ready. The potatoes should become soft with an appetizing golden crust. This will take about 35-40 minutes. The cooking time should be adjusted depending on the oven's characteristics.

Dice the onion into small cubes, finely chop the garlic, and chop the herbs.

In a saucepan or small frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil, add onion, garlic and cook, stirring, over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are soft. The onion should not brown. Then add tomato paste, paprika, hot pepper and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes.

Pour vinegar into the pan, evaporate it, stirring (about 1 minute), add tomatoes, salt, pepper and stir. Cook over low heat until thickened for about 10-15 minutes. If the sauce is too thick, it can be diluted with water. Optionally, the sauce can be pureed in a blender or left with vegetable pieces.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, place them on plates, pour flavorful tomato sauce over them and sprinkle with parsley. Serve hot as a standalone dish with fresh vegetables or as a side dish. Enjoy your meal!