New potatoes & green tahina salad
LEVEL: Beginner
INGREDIENTS
SERVES 4-6500g small new potatoes, skins on
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed salt and black pepper
FOR THE SAUCE
75g tahina
75-100ml cold water
1 garlic clove
½-1 tsp salt large handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus a little extra for sprinkling
juice of 1 lemon
TO SERVE
pinch of chilli flakes, to sprinkle sumac, to sprinkle extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle
METHOD
If the sun is shining and there’s a barbecue on the cards, then I have to make this. It’s great with lamb, fish or any chicken dish and is just like a potato salad. Instead of mayo, we whisk tahina with water to make a sauce, then flavour it first with garlic – of course – and lots of parsley to turn it green. Then at the last minute we stir in lemon juice. The lemon thickens the sauce immediately, so don’t add it any earlier. This recide makes double the quantity you need for the spuds but it will keep well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week. It really is just like mayo, and totally addictive, so feel free to use it in exactly the same way.
Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Add the new potatoes, cover the pan and bring back to the boil. Once boiling, half cover the pan, turn down the heat to medium and simmer for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Drain, then return to the pan with the oil and garlic, and season well. Toss everything together and cover to keep warm.
Put the tahina into a bowl and add the water. Whisk together until it’s smooth and the two ingredients become a creamy sauce.
Smash the garlic clove with the salt and whisk into the sauce. Add the chopped parsley and use a hand blender to blend everything together.
Alternatively, transfer to a food processor to blend it – the sauce should be very green.
Put the potatoes in a dish, then add the lemon juice to the tahina sauce, spoon it over the potatoes and sprinkle a few small parsley leaves on top. Scatter over the chilli flakes and sumac, garnish with a few dots of extra-virgin olive oil and serve straight away.
