Pesto and garlic roast hassleback potatoes

Serves 4 Preparation Time 10 Minutes Cooking time 1 hour 30 Minutes I am not a huge potato fan and people think it is odd that I am not keen on roast potatoes. That said I do love these Hasselback ones or as my kids would call them when they were young hedgehog potatoes. I particularly love cooking them with plenty of herbs and garlic as you can get the flavours down into the grooves of the potatoes. They make a great potato side dish, I myself quite like them on their own dipped into ranch dressing or my favourite BBQ sauce. Give them a try you will not be disappointed. So

• Crispy
• Herby
• Flavoursome
• Garlicky
• Delicious
• Tempting

Ingredients

• 12 Medium-sized potatoes
• 2 Sprigs of fresh rosemary
• Few sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 cloves of garlic smashed
• 4 small shallots
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 tsp green pesto ( will post my pesto recipe at the bottom of the page)
• salt and pepper

 

1. Preheat the oven to 220C and wash and dry the potatoes.
2. Place a metal skewer horizontally through the first potato, just short of the bottom. This will prevent you from cutting all the way down through the potato. Remove the skewer and repeat with the rest until they are all done. alternatively, place the potatoes on a wooden spoon and slice down until you hit the wood
3. Place them in a metal roasting dish and pour the oil over them, rubbing it over all the potatoes with your hands.
4. Add the remaining ingredients to the dish and season well.
5. Baste occasionally with the herb and garlic infused oil in the dish so the potatoes soak up all the flavour.
6. Cover the dish with foil and place into the hot oven for 45 minutes, then uncover and add 2 heaped tsp of pesto, give it a stir and place back into the oven for another 10 minutes

I love these as a side or with a salad. If you are not a fan of Pesto then leave it out and coat if you like in vegan ranch or caesar dressing. These are also a great accompaniment to a BBQ or if have a small pick n mix when having friends over Feel free to use bough vegan pesto. In my freezer, I always have some cubes of pesto ready for when I need it. It is so simple to do a bulk batch, freeze in icecube trays and then into freezer bags once frozen. Green pesto Roasted red pepper pesto If you make this, don’t forget to tag me on twitter as @veganalchemist1 or my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/thegfveganalchemist I love seeing your versions of the recipes. It is also lovely to receive comments