Cover the potatoes (wash them first if necessary) in salted water and place over a medium high heat until cooked through. This will depend on the size of potato you buy – mine were quite large and took around 20 minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked through, allow them to slightly – enough that you can smash them up and get your hands involved if necessary.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Once the oven is heated, place a thin, just covering the bottom layer of oil in the bottom of your baking tray. Allow the oil to heat through for around 10-15 minutes. For extra crispy results, use two trays. For EXTRA crispy results, you’d cook half a batch at a time, but that’s illogical and ridiculous so here we are.
While the oil is heating, smash the cooled potatoes into bite sized chunks. Some size variation is ok, but for even cooking make sure they’re roughly the same size.
Place the potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes before checking on them and carefully turning them and moving them around for even heat distribution. Allow to continue cooking for another 30 or so minutes (again, heavily dependent on your potato size) until super crunchy and golden brown. Remove from the oven when ready, and drain on paper towel or however you like to do it. You can save the oil for general cooking or more baked potatoes.
Generously sprinkle the potatoes with fine salt (it clings best to potatoes) and pepper if you fancy. Dollop over as much pesto as you fancy (I used roughly half the batch) and serve immediately. You can add whatever you like to these – some herbs, greens, olives and/or capers would all be delicious.