These Oven Roasted Potatoes with Bacon and Parmesan are smothered with bacon and cheese and baked to a deliciously soft yet crunchy texture! They are a delicious, easy side dish, or hey, maybe even a main course!
Scrub potatoes. If you intend to peel them, do that now (you can just leave the skins on if you want though.) Place whole potatoes in a large pot. Fill pot with water until potatoes are covered by a couple inches of water. Bring water to a boil and cook for 12-15 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.
Now it's time to make a bacon choice. You can slice or cut it with scissors before you cook it, or crumble it afterward if that's how you roll. If you slice it beforehand, do yourself a favor and stick it in the freezer for 10 minutes or so...makes it a lot easier.
Cook bacon in a skillet until golden, but still flexible. You don’t want it to get crunchy. Remove cooked bacon onto a plate lined with paper towels. Crumble now if you haven't yet. Reserve the bacon drippings.
When potatoes are fork tender, drain and allow to cool enough to handle.
Preheat the oven to 425°. Mince the garlic and parsley, and grate the Parmesan. Set aside.
Prepare the baking sheet by brushing 1 tablespoon of olive oil and half the bacon drippings on the bottom of the pan. I used an 11x17 inch jelly roll pan and it was perfect.
Once the potatoes are cool, cut them in half, or quarter if potatoes are large.
Place cut side down on prepared pan and sprinkle with course salt and fresh ground pepper. Place in 425° oven for 35-40 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through the baking time to ensure an even color.
Reduce temperature to 375°, turn potatoes over and sprinkle with the bacon, garlic, Parmesan, and more salt and pepper if you want.
Return to oven for an additional 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are evenly browned and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh parsley. Then stuff!