Air Fryer Parmesan, Rosemary, and Black Pepper French Fries

Ainekset

1½ pounds russet potatoes, unpeeled

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1½ ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (¾ cup), divided

4 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary, divided

¼ teaspoon table salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

Ohjeet

1. Cut potatoes lengthwise into ½-inch-thick planks. Stack 3 or 4 planks and cut into ½-inch-thick sticks; repeat with remaining planks.

2. Submerge potatoes in large bowl of water and rinse to remove excess starch. Drain potatoes and repeat process as needed until water remains clear. Cover potatoes with hot tap water and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain potatoes, transfer to paper towel–lined rimmed baking sheet, and thoroughly pat dry.

3. Toss potatoes with 1 tablespoon oil in clean, dry bowl, then transfer to air-fryer basket. Place basket in air fryer, set temperature to 350 degrees, and cook for 8 minutes. Transfer potatoes to now-empty bowl and toss gently to redistribute. Return potatoes to air fryer and cook until softened and potatoes have turned from white to blond (potatoes may be spotty brown at tips), 5 to 10 minutes.

4. Transfer potatoes to now-empty bowl and toss with ¼ cup Parmesan, 1 tablespoon rosemary, remaining 1 tablespoon oil, salt, and pepper. Return potatoes to air fryer, increase temperature to 400 degrees, and cook until golden brown and crispy, 15 to 20 minutes, tossing gently in bowl to redistribute every 5 minutes.

5. Transfer fries to bowl and toss with ¼ cup Parmesan and remaining 1 teaspoon rosemary. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to larger plate and sprinkle with remaining ¼ cup Parmesan. Serve immediately.

Muistiinpanot

Do not clean out the tossing bowl while you are cooking; the residual oil helps the crisping process.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: To give air-fryer French fries a delectable Parmesan-rosemary coating, we cooked some of the cheese onto the fries, creating an adhesive, crispy crust, and then tossed the rest of the cheese with the cooked fries to contribute a blast of pure Parmesan flavor undulled by heat. Adding the rosemary both during and after cooking also best highlighted the herb’s aroma. To gild the lily, we added a background of black pepper and sprinkled a third handful of cheese onto the finished fry pile; the fries’ heat melted the cheese into a lacy coating. Frequently tossing the fries while they cooked ensured the most even cooking and the best browning. We found tossing the fries in a bowl, rather than in the air-fryer basket, yielded the best results and the fewest broken fries.