Ingredients
Roast Potatoes
1 kg starchy potatoes (these are pink eyes)
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
8-9 garlic cloves, unpeeled
Salsa Verde
2 tbsp salted capers, rinsed and finely chopped
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp finely chopped basil
2 tbsp finely chopped rocket or coriander leaves
4 tbsp finely chopped parsley
3-4 tsp lemon juice
4-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Summary
It’s almost the last recipe post for the year, and with shared feasts likely to be abundant I thought I’d go with these two sure-to-impress standards you can rely on if the in-laws rock up early. Using the fresh summer goods in your December veggie box, they’ll go with anything on the table, meat or fish or a big pile of roasted carrots, and should satisfy all dietary persuasions.
Both of these are taken straight from Matthew Evans gorgeous book ‘The Real Food Companion’, which I recently borrowed. (If you are stuck for gift ideas it’s really beautiful and practical for those keen in the kitchen. Ahem). These two will both serve about 6.
Best Roast Potatoes
Yummy roast spuds worthy of the festive table. Dutch Cream, Nicola, Kipfler, Pink Eye… all great varieties for roasting but anything will be good. Preheat the oven to 220ºC. Boil or steam the potatoes until soft, then drain. Pop them in a roasting tin, pushing them down with the back of a spoon so that they break open a little. More potato surface means more crispy roasted bits. Drizzle generously with olive oil, throw in some whole garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper and bake for 20-30 minutes, until it’s roast potato perfection. You can fight over who gets the garlic.
Salsa Verde
Chop everything as finely as you can, and mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt (if needed) and freshly ground pepper. You can whizz this up with a blender, but by all accounts it is better chopped by hand. And it’ll also thank you to let it stand for 30 minutes before slathering it on everything. Be free with the herbs, you can use the list here as a tasty guide, just go for about 8 tablespoons of your favourite green things. And double it for a big crowd. Totally delicious.
