CHEESE AND PICKLE ROAST POTATOES WITH CHILLI-DRESSED LEAVES
A tray of these for dinner is just about the best thing I can think of to eat – squashed crisp-edged potatoes, tossed and baked in pickle brine to give them a subtle but important chip-shop-vinegar appeal. Once hot and crisped, the potatoes are topped with cornichons and cheese, and finished with a chilli and bitter-lettuce salad. Pickle brine is often thrown away but it is highly seasoned gold. It is acidic, a little salty and usually a little sweet, so it instantly adds depth, like a splash of vinegar but more mellow.
SERVES 4
H 10 cornichons (35g), roughly chopped, plus 100ml of brine from the jar
H 100ml extra virgin olive oil
H sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
H 3 fresh red chillies
H juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
H 100g comté cheese or vegan mature cheddar-style cheese
H 1 head of radicchio or other bitter lettuce
1 Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, add the new potatoes and cook for 10-20 minutes, depending on their size, until they are just cooked. Drain and leave to steam-dry in a colander.
2 Tip the potatoes into a roasting tin, toss them with 50ml of the cornichon brine, 2 tbsp of the olive oil and salt and pepper, then roast for 15 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven and, using a potato masher, squish the potatoes until they crack and expose some of the soft, fluffy insides. Pour over another 2 tbsp of the olive oil and return to the oven for another 30-40 minutes, turning the potatoes halfway, until golden and crispy.
3 For the chilli dressing, prick the chillies with the tip of a sharp knife to stop them exploding when they are cooked. Using a pair of metal tongs, hold the chillies one at a time over a gas flame until they’re blackened and blistered all over. If you don’t have a gas hob, do this in a dry frying pan. Once they are all blistered, put them in a small bowl, cover and leave them for 15 minutes to steam in their own heat so the skins will peel off easily. Once cool enough to handle, peel the chillies, open them up and scrape out and discard all the seeds. Finely chop the flesh, put it in a mixing bowl with the remaining olive oil and the lemon juice and mix well. Season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 4 Once the potatoes are golden and crisp, add the remaining cornichon brine, then toss with the cornichons and a generous grating of the comté or vegan cheddar-style cheese. Serve with radicchio or other bitter leaves, tossed in the chilli dressing.