A very simple but really tasty side dish, great to serve cold with all main courses. Potato and pesto salad, quick to prepare, with microwaved boiled potatoes, Genoese pesto, olives, and pine nuts… delicious as it is, you can also enrich it with diced feta, chickpeas, tuna in oil, mackerel or anchovy fillets, so you will have a nice complete dish. I used the microwave to shorten the time and to keep the potatoes more consistent, but if you don’t have it, you can steam them or boil them. You can use ready-made pesto, or prepare it on the spot, instructions are below. Try this recipe, it’s very easy and very appetizing!
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 2 People
- Cooking methods: Microwave, Steaming
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 158.01 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 25.21 (g) of which sugars 1.41 (g)
- Proteins 4.27 (g)
- Fat 4.93 (g) of which saturated 0.31 (g)of which unsaturated 1.54 (g)
- Fibers 3.24 (g)
- Sodium 252.17 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 12.35 oz potatoes (preferably new)
- 1 tablespoon Genoese pesto
- 1 tablespoon Taggiasca olives
- pine nuts (to taste)
- basil
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Tools
- Container for microwave cooking
- Bowl
Preparation
Wash the potatoes well, removing all the soil residues. Place them in a microwave-safe container, pouring half a finger of water on the bottom. If the potatoes are large, cut them in half.
Cook them at maximum power for about 8 minutes, or until tender. Let them cool for a few minutes, then peel and cut them into pieces.
Put the potatoes in a bowl, season them with a little salt and a drizzle of oil.
Finally, add the pesto, the olives, a handful of pine nuts to taste, and some fresh basil leaves. Mix well, and if you have time, let it marinate for at least half an hour.
If you want to make the pesto on the spot, you will need about 0.7 oz of basil leaves (well washed and dried), 0.18 oz of pine nuts, half a clove of garlic, 0.7 oz of Parmesan (or Pecorino), 0.7 oz of extra virgin olive oil, and some coarse salt.
The potato and pesto salad is ready, you can serve it as a side dish, or you can enrich it with feta cheese, boiled chickpeas, or tuna in oil, so you will have a tasty one-dish meal.
Tips and Notes
If you don’t have a microwave, you can steam the potatoes or boil them in water. If you prefer, you can peel them raw.
You can replace Genoese pesto with arugula pesto. You can use green olives instead of Taggiasca.
You can make the dish in advance and store it in the fridge in a closed container.
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