Potato salad is my guilty indulgence. Even without the use of mayonnaise, it can be quite a treat especially dressed in highly flavourful pesto. Leave it to Ottolenghi to give the humble potato salad a royal treatment including classically garlicky basil pinenuts pesto, little pops of tender green peas, ribbons of sorrel, and the most decadent of them all, softboiled eggs oozing with golden liquid yolk. The original recipe Royal Potato Salad in Plenty calls for over a dozen softboiled quail eggs. The photo looks absolutely adorable with all the miniature eggs the same size as the potato chunks. I made mine with regular chicken eggs from my CSA. The golden hue of the gelatinous yolks is mesmerizing. I carefully tore the eggs into pieces and watched the liquid languidly slid down the potatoes to add an extra rich dimension to the dressing. What a fantastic way to give the pesto a boost!
I confess that I did not make the pesto from Ottolenghi's recipe. We are still far from hot weather when basil thrives in the summer sun. I made large batches of pesto back in the summer months and have been slowly enjoying my stash in the freezer. My frozen pesto are stored flat in a resealable plastic bag and I simply broke off a piece to dress the potato. I didn't even need to defrost. The heat from the freshly boiled potatoes was more than enough to melt the pesto. This is what I call homemade convenience at its best.
I really like the addition of snappy green peas and sorrel. Neither of these are typical addition to potato salads but the sweetness of peas and the herbal note of sorrel are welcomed elements to the heavier potatoes and eggs.This salad is wonderful either warm or cold. Served warm, it makes for a nice sidedish for grilled chicken or fatty fish. Served cold, it is a delicious alternative at barbeque or potluck though my personal preference is to pack them in a bento with some rustic crusty bread on the side and perhaps a piece of smoked gouda.
I've been in Florida for the last few days and the hot weather here makes me wish for arrival of summer produce back home. Judging by our cool start to spring, it's becoming hard to imagine that warmer weather will ever arrive. I've already signed up for the summer season at my CSA. I only hope that 2011 will be another fantastic season like we enjoyed last year. Keeping my hopes up!
