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Avocado Pesto Potato Salad
The perfect summery side to all your BBQ favourites! You can’t go wrong with new potatoes tossed in a delicious, flavourful ‘dressing’ made with avocado and classic basil pesto ingredients. Instead of blitzing it together until smooth, I recommend hand-chopping the dressing ingredients to add texture to the final dish. The toasted pine nuts add a lovely crunch, the potatoes a soft bite, and the avocado pesto some much needed richness and creaminess.
Looking for something to pair it with? How about my Paprika Garlic Butter Chicken, Mojo Marinated Skirt Steak, Black Garlic Honey Lime Salmon, or my Spinach and Ricotta Aubergine Rolls (for a fully vegetarian meal)?
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 (as a side) 1x
- Category: Sides
Ingredients
Scale
- 750 g baby potatoes, quartered
For the avocado pesto:
- 50 g pine nuts
- 1 extra-large avocado, mashed
- 50 g grana padano or parmigiano reggiano, grated
- 50 g fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 lemon, zest
- ½ lemon, juice
- 4 tbsps extra-virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Place the potatoes in a saucepan. Cover with cold water, season very generously with sea salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Taste the water – it should be sea-level salty (don’t worry, very little of the salt will actually be absorbed by the potatoes). Cook until tender to the tip of a knife, 10 to 15 minutes, then drain and let cool for 30 minutes. This is a great time to get the rest of your prep done.
- While the potatoes are cooking, make the ‘dressing’. Place the pine nuts in a small roasting tin and bake at 180℃ until golden brown, tossing once halfway through, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool. If you don’t want to do this, you can buy pre-toasted pine nuts. It won’t be quite as good, but it’ll work!
- Transfer the cooled, toasted pine nuts to a large bowl and add the remaining avocado pesto ingredients. Season with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste, and stir to combine.
- Add the cooled potatoes and toss to coat. Taste and adjust seasoning, then serve and enjoy!
