Crispy Potatoes with Garlic Mustard Pesto Recipe on Food52 (2024)

5 Ingredients or Fewer

by: Melina Hammer

April21,2021

4.8

8 Ratings

  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 40 minutes
  • Serves 2

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Author Notes

Garlic mustard outcompetes most native spring greens, so thank goodness it is as versatile as it is aggressive. This dish is like eating great French fries. Only, instead of frying, their crisp puffiness comes from steaming, then roasting. Banging up the potatoes before they go in a roaring hot oven yields crunchy crusts and fluffy insides. These dreamy spuds and nutty green sauce also happens to be vegan. Made from just a few ingredients and whizzed together in 30 seconds flat, the sauce is nutty, cheesy, and supple—thanks to toasted pecans and nutritional yeast. And while the pesto is perfect with potatoes, don’t stop there. Especially perfect for Earth Day, this eat-the-weeds sauce goes with everything: pasta, toast, meats or fish, salads, eggs, you name it. Pull garlic mustard up by its roots and feast. —Melina Hammer

  • Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • Crispy potatoes
  • 2 poundsYukon gold potatoes, peeled and halved
  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • Kosher salt
  • Flaky salt and freshly ground pepper
  • Garlic mustard pesto
  • 4 cupspacked, garlic mustard leaves, rinsed and patted dry
  • 3/4 cupextra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
  • 1/3 cuppecan pieces, toasted until fragrant and cooled
  • 3 tablespoonsnutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoonkosher salt
Directions
  1. Heat the oven to 425°F. Place the potatoes in a steamer basket with a couple inches of water at the bottom of the pan. Cover with its lid and steam over high heat until they are slightly tender when pierced with a sharp knife, 12 to 15 minutes.
  2. Drain any remaining water from the pan, then transfer the hot potatoes back to the pan without the steamer basket. Vigorously swirl the pan to bang the potatoes up. When they look scuffed, transfer them to a baking pan. Generously drizzle them with oil, season with a pinch of salt, and toss to coat.
  3. Roast the potatoes for 35 to 45 minutes, until golden, crispy, and puffed. After the 25-minute mark, turn the pieces as needed every 5 or so minutes for even browning.
  4. While potatoes roast, combine all of the pesto ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until uniform. You may want to add more olive oil (I usually use 1 cup total), to achieve a looser, more pourable sauce. (If you do not use the pesto immediately, seal and chill in the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator at least 15 minutes prior to using to come to room temperature.)
  5. Transfer the potatoes to a plate. Season with flaky salt and pepper. Spoon the pesto on top, or drag the potatoes through the sauce.

Tags:

  • Corn Salad
  • Pasta
  • Spanish
  • Californian
  • American
  • Mediterranean
  • Potato
  • Vegetable
  • 5 Ingredients or Fewer
  • Spring
  • Fourth of July
  • Memorial Day

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Caroline Sloat

  • Tucker & Me

  • Melina Hammer

  • Miss_Karen

Recipe by: Melina Hammer

Melina is the author of 'A Year at Catbird Cottage' with Ten Speed Press. She grows an heirloom and pollinator garden and forages wild foods at her namesake Hudson Valley getaway, Catbird Cottage. Melina loves serving curated menus for guests from near and far seeking community amidst the hummingbirds, grosbeaks, finches, and the robust flavors of the seasons.

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11 Reviews

Caroline S. April 25, 2023

Perfect timing. I was going out to wage war, er weed, the garlic mustard that had sprouted over the last few days. I will do it with gusto now that I can call it harvesting and turn it into pesto. Thanks, Melina!

March 25, 2023

We have lots of it growing here in Northeastern Vermont. Definitely have seen lots of info about using this invasive in the kitchen. Will definitely try it once the snow melts. Thank you!!

Anne E. September 17, 2022

Dead simple and crazy good. I have done the potato without the sauce to accompany roast chicken or fish-so crisp/creamy without being super high in fat.

Melina H. September 18, 2022

So glad you love this too. Thank you for sharing!

adidamas April 19, 2022

Love the simplicity of this recipe. I made a different pesto recipe based on what I had (roughly, Cookie + Kate's Super Kale Pesto). Cooked the potatoes per the recipe here and they were spectacular. Side salad and we were good to go.

stacy April 29, 2021

How do you find garlic mustard leaves? I live in Northern California and haven't seen them before

Melina H. April 29, 2021

They have become an invasive plant wreaking havoc across the nation, but perhaps your area is not afflicted. Call yourself lucky if so - garlic mustard is a scourge to biodiversity! Google "garlic mustard" and look at images in addition to the one shown in the article associated with this recipe. When blooming, it sends up a long stem. A small spray of white flowers sits at the end of the stem. All parts of the plant are edible throughout stages of its growth.

Melina H. April 29, 2021

Also, on my Instagram page, there is a saved highlight where I show the plants growing in the wild. Hope it'll prove useful to identifying it!

stacy April 30, 2021

Thank you and very interesting. Is there something that we can substitute the garlic mustard with? I can't wait to try this recipe

Miss_Karen April 24, 2023

You could use ramps, if you can find them. D'artagnon.com has them for order.

Melina H. April 24, 2023

Though delicious, ramps will produce a decidedly onion-forward result. This pesto is more nutty/velvety, with a tinge of allium. I really advocate using this plant specifically, as it is extremely invasive and crowding out biodiversity nationwide! It’s pretty straightforward to ID garlic mustard, and there are loads of places via google to lead to success. Once you know, you can harvest with abandon and make this fine sauce.

Crispy Potatoes with Garlic Mustard Pesto Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

How to make crispy roast potatoes Mary Berry? ›

Preheat a large shallow roasting tin in the oven until hot before adding the fat to the tin and heating for five minutes. Carefully add the potatoes, turning them in the fat until coated and scatter over the thyme sprigs. Return them to the oven and roast them for around 45 to 55 minutes until golden brown and crisp.

Why won't my fried potatoes get crispy? ›

Use enough oil.

"The oil conducts the heat that crisps the potato up," Kenniff says.

Why won't my potatoes get crispy? ›

If roasted potatoes lack their crunchy sheen, overcrowding is usually the culprit. Just as overcrowding bacon or mushrooms in a saucepan causes disappointingly mushy results, placing potatoes too close to each other on a baking sheet will prevent them from crisping while they roast.

What makes a potato crisp? ›

Cooking at a farily constant and high oil temperature, around 350°F/[177°C], heats the slices so rapidly that the starch granules and cell walls have little chance to absorb any mositure before they're dessicated and done, in 3–4 minutes. The texture is therefore delicately crisp and fine-grained.

How do you keep crispy potatoes crispy? ›

Keep potatoes crisp in a warm oven if you're serving them in 1-2 hours. If there is a slight wait before everyone eats, don't cover the crispy potatoes—this traps steam which will make the potatoes soggy. Just keep them in the oven, but turn the temperature to the lowest setting.

Why does vinegar make potatoes crispy? ›

The acid in the vinegar can also help to slightly break down the surface of the potatoes, aiding in the development of a crispier texture during frying. Additionally, the vinegar can contribute to a golden-brown color on the exterior of the fries.

Should you boil potatoes before roasting them? ›

Do I have to boil potatoes before roasting? Not necessary but this can help get the perfect consistency and crispiness. Make sure you boil them but leave them a bit al dente and they will crisp up perfectly in the oven.

Why does soaking potatoes in water make them crispy? ›

Soaking the sliced potatoes in water helps to draw out some of the starch from the middle of the potato, resulting in a sturdier, crispier French fry.

How do you're crisp roasted potatoes? ›

Heat your oven to 400 degrees, spread potatoes on a sheet pan and cover them in tin foil. Re-roast them until they're warm all the way through, about 10-15 minutes. Remove the cover for another five to add crispiness.

Does soaking potatoes in water make them crispier? ›

If you want to prepare your potatoes later after you have cut them soaking them in cold water will keep them from turning brown. Also, if you are going to fry them they will turn out crispier. Soaking them helps to remove the starch. Just make sure you dry them well before frying.

Does removing starch make potatoes crispier? ›

Starch rich potatoes usually turn soft and crumbly, while frying or baking. So, if you are making delicacies wherein you want the potatoes to be crispy and crunchy, then removing starch is the best way to keep your wafers, fries, crispy potatoes, hash browns crisp and delicious.

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