A bowl of hot buttery new potatoes, especially if you’ve dug them up yourself, is one of life's simplest pleasures, says our Kitchen Garden Cook, Melanie Johnson. But there are ways to go further with them.
Melanie shares three ways to make the most of them, from delicious and simple roasted new potatoes, to a classic Austrian dish known as Gröstl, to a meatball recipe which complements potatoes perfectly.
Recipe: Tyrolean-style new potatoes, aka Tyrolean Gröstl
An indulgent and comforting dish from the mountains.
Ingredients
- 750g new potatoes
- Bacon lardons
- 1 large onion
- Olive oil
- A sprinkling of Caraway seeds
- Eggs
- Sauerkraut
Tyrolean potatoes in a pan.
Method
Boil new potatoes for 15 minutes and then drain.
Fry a sliced onion in a large frying pan with olive oil.
Slice the potatoes in half and add them to the onion, together with bacon lardons.
Fry until the potatoes have browned and the bacon is crisp. Sprinkle over caraway seeds and add fried eggs on top.
Serve the frying pan to the table with a bowl of sauerkraut on the side
Recipe: Chicken and Parmesan meatballs with roasted new potatoes and salsa verde
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 750g new potatoes, halved
- A generous splash olive oil
For the meatballs
- 250g chicken, minced or finely chopped
- 30g Parmesan, grated
- 3 spring onions, white part, diced
- 1 egg
- 65g ground almonds
For the salsa verde
- 6 anchovy fillets (optional)
- A handful each of fresh basil, fresh parsley and fresh mint
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1tbspn capers
- 100ml olive oil
To serve
- 3 spring onions, green part of, sliced on an angle
- 2 avocados, sliced
- 40g flaked almonds, lightly toasted
- 75ml soured cream
- A bunch basil leaves
- ½tspn chilli flakes
Method
Preheat your oven to 180˚C fan/200˚C/400˚F/gas mark 6
Add the halved new potatoes to a large roasting tray, pour over the olive oil and mix well so they’re evenly coated.
To a mixing bowl, add the minced or chopped chicken, Parmesan, diced spring onion, egg and ground almonds. Season well and mix everything together before rolling into even-sized meatballs. This quantity should make about 12. Add these to the large roasting tray with the potatoes and bake for 45 minutes.
Prepare the salsa verde by mixing all the ingredients either in a blender or with a pestle and mortar. Bring to a coarse paste and add olive oil to loosen the texture if required. Set aside until ready to use.
Take the roasting tray from the oven and remove everything to a warmed serving platter. Drizzle over the salsa verde, scatter over sliced spring onions, add the slices of avocado, dollops of soured cream, fresh basil leaves, flaked almonds and finish with a light sprinkling of chilli flakes. Serve immediately.
Recipe: Easy garlic and rosemary roasted new potatoes
Boil new potatoes for 15 minutes. Drain and tip onto an oven tray with a generous glug of olive oil.
Add cloves of garlic, skins on to be removed once cooked, and sprigs of rosemary.
Roast in a hot oven for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are crisping nicely. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.
