How’s about this to go with your weekend BBQ? Roasted new potato salad with artichokes, peas and asparagus tossed with wild garlic pesto and a little bit of good mayo. We ate it last night with a side of BBQ salmon, and it’s got to be one of the best meals of Spring. The salad is adaptable, but do use new potatoes as they’re just so good at this time of the year. Substitute the vegetables with whatever you have. A dear friend gave me a bag of globe artichokes this week that worked brilliantly with the asparagus and peas (I used frozen but pop some fresh ones if you can find them). I’ve made versions of this before with green beans, and I mostly use salsa verde in the sauce. In various guises this is a regular on my table over the summer.
To serve 4 - 6 as a side
Ingredients
750g new potatoes
a good splash of olive oil
3 good tablespoons (or however much you want really) of salsa verde or pesto
1 dessertspoon good quality mayonnaise (optional)
3 good handfuls of lightly cooked spring vegetables such as asparagus (trimmed and cut in half), green beans (trimmed and cut in half), peas (fresh or frozen), globe artichoke
lemon juice
salt and pepper
fresh basil or mint (optional)
Place the potatoes in a roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil. I used Pomora lemon oil, which is lovely, but standard olive oil is fine. Blast in a hot oven until burnished and tender, about 45 minutes at 180C.
While the potatoes are doing their thing, lightly cook your vegetables in salted boiling water. Be particularly careful not to overcook asparagus - it is the deity of spring vegetables! - 7 minutes should do it, but check at the 5 minute mark. Drain well and et aside.
As soon as the potatoes are done, leave them in the roasting tray and lightly crush with a potato masher - don’t turn them into mashed potato, you just want to open them up a bit to absorb the sauce. Add the salsa verde or pesto and gently toss to coat.
Add the vegetables and the mayo (if using) and gently stir to combine. Add a scoop more sauce or mayo if you need more to coat all the vegetables generously.
Season with salt and pepper and a spritz of lemon juice if you like. Serve warm or at room temperature, scattered with torn mint and basil if you have some available.