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I can’t say I’ve ever met a potato recipe that I didn’t like, but this one is seriously out of this world. Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. These Smashed Pesto Potatoes are what comfort food dreams are made of.
This savory side dish is one of my all-time favorites and is absolutely loaded with vibrant, mouthwatering flavors. Whether you’re hosting a dinner party for friends or treating yourself to a weeknight meal, these pesto smashed potatoes are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.
The cooking process is so easy, yet produces the most incredible results. You simply boil the potatoes and smash them down with a fork. After being drizzled with oil, bake them in the oven until they get nice and crispy. Using the fork to smash them down creates more surface area to crisp up. So these potatoes get way crispier than any other potato recipes I’ve tried.
A Pesto that does good too!
Once we’ve baked our potatoes to crispy golden perfection, we add our pesto. Surely, we are not adding just any pesto. I want a vibrant, flavorful vegan pesto. I want the organic Beetroot Cashew Pesto by Rettergut. And there are some pretty good reasons to choose this one. Amazing taste and beautiful color aside, this pesto actually does something good while you genereously drizzle it on your crispy potatoes.
It prevents food waste! All of Rettergut’s pestos ( also spreads, noodles, soups) use organic produce that doesn’t comply with strict (and silly) supermarket standards. In easy words, produce that is deemed ugly is being thrown out. Don’t get me started on those silly supermarket politics, it is driving me mad! But I am glad some companies like Rettergut are taking action to not let amazing organic produce go to waste. And that’s a pretty good reason for me to choose their products over others to do my part in eliminating food waste.
Feeling thirsty now?
In case that big plate of Smashed Pesto Potatoes left you all thirsty, I recommend you give Rettergut’s latest Planet A beer a try. They created a fruity peachy IPA that makes uses of overly ripe peaches and stale bread. Who would have thought you could actually make something this amazing from old bread and fruit?
Smashed Pesto Potatoes
Ingredients
- 400 g small potatoes
- 3-4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup cashews
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 3 tsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp lemon rind
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 pinch citric acid optional
- 1 pinch salt + pepper
- 1 jar favorite pesto ( I used Rettergut Beetroot pesto)
- 1 handful of herbs (thyme, basil, lemon balm are great)
Instructions
- Boil the potatoes until soft.
- Arrange on a baking tray and smash/flatten each potatoe with a fork.
- Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Bake for about 30 minutes at 175 Degrees Celsius or until golden brown.
- To make the vegan dipping sauce, add the cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, lemon rind, water, citric acid and salt and pepper to your blender and blend until creamy.
- Remove from the blender and stir in a big splash of your favorite pesto.
- Top your potatoes with the cashew sauce, then add an extra dollop of pesto and sprinkle with fresh thyme, lemon balm or basil.
From the crispy golden-brown potatoes to the delectable pesto spread on top, these pesto smashed potatoes are the ultimate flavor explosion. Once you try them out, you won’t want to cook your potatoes any other way!
For more delicious comfort food recipes, try my: