These early summer potatoes deserve a worthy spread to elevate them to a flavorful, can’t eat enough, clean your plate status. This year I planted a random assortment of potatoes. Red potatoes, Yukon gold and fingerling potatoes will produce a good yield for your summertime enjoyment.
I live in the beautiful Pacific NW, which means our summers are beautiful, albeit not as warm or as long of a growing season as some southern locations. So this year my basil comes from one of the farmers in our valley. In the past when I’ve grown basil, I’ve ended up with a black filmy mold on the underside of all the basil leaves that spreads to other plants and leaves me with a less than stellar crop.
You can also make pesto with any variety of herbs or nuts that you fancy. Try these options too…
- Parsley, Lemon and Walnut pesto
- Winter Pesto with Rosemary, Oregano and Thyme
- or try experimenting with different nuts such as roasted pecans, walnuts or pumpkin seeds
Pesto Potatoes
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 4-5 cups packed basil
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 tsp seat salt
- 1 Whole lemon
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- ½ cup pine nuts or walnuts
- 4 Cups Baby potatoes
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil extra virgin
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F
- Wash and chop the potatoes. You only need to cut most of them in half or ½in cubes.
- Place the potatoes, salt, 2-3 tbsp olive oil as needed to coat the potatoes into a casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil.
- Place in the oven for about 45min or until tender to fork
- Now get started on the pesto. Wash all of the basil.
- Strip the leaves from their stems. No need to chop them, just toss into your food processor.
- Mince 2-3 cloves garlic to taste.
- Add the garlic, sea salt, a whole lemon squeezed and the nuts into the food processor and pulse for 30-45 second increments.
- Stop to scrape the sides with a spatula and add the olive oil and pulse again until you achieve the consistency you desire. You can always adjust the recipe and add more oil or lemon if the pesto is too thick.
- Once you get your desired consistency scrape out the pesto into a bowl or covered container.
- Check the potatoes with a fork for tenderness around 35min.
- Once the potatoes are done let them cool for a couple minutes and then drizzle the pesto on top and serve.