Salt-crusted Jersey Royals with spiced tomato sauce and watercress aïoli
main | vegan
Patatas bravas with a British twist: salt-encrusted spuds with a spicy tomato sauce and a piquant aïoli to dip them in.
Prep 10 min
Cook 40 min
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 tsp hot smoked paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
black pepper
1¼kg small jersey royals, scrubbed
4 tbsp sea salt
For the aïoli
2 small garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
2 egg yolks (or make vegan watercress aïoli with garlic, vegan mayonnaise and watercress)
1 tsp dijon mustard
1-2 tsp white-wine vinegar, to taste
juice of ½ lemon
150ml extra-virgin olive oil
150ml vegetable oil
50g watercress leaves, finely chopped (if no watercress try rocket, mustard cress or radish sprouts)
Method
- Start with the tomato sauce. Warm the oil in a small pan on a medium heat, then gently fry the onion, seasoning it with a few generous pinches of salt, for six to eight minutes, until soft. Add the garlic, cook for a few minutes more, until fragrant, then stir in the paprika and cinnamon, and cook for a minute more, until they have stained the onions. Add the tomatoes, leave to simmer for 20 minutes, until the sauce is thick and reduced, then season to taste.
- Meanwhile, put the potatoes and sea salt in a large, wide pan (ideally of a size in which the potatoes can sit in a single layer) and add enough cold water just to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. Pour off the water, leaving the potatoes in the pan, return to a low heat, and continue to cook gently, turning them occasionally, until a layer of salt forms over them.
- While the tomatoes are simmering and the potatoes boiling, make the aïoli. Put the garlic in a tall jug with the egg yolks, mustard, vinegar, lemon juice and several large pinches of salt. Blitz with a hand blender for 30 seconds, then, with the blender still going, slowly add the olive oil in a thin, steady trickle. After a minute, increase the trickle to a thin stream. Once you have added all the olive oil, pour in the vegetable oil, this time in a thicker stream, until emulsified and combined. Stir in the watercress, blitz again briefly, then taste and add more lemon juice or salt, if needed. Serve the salt-crusted potatoes alongside the warm tomato sauce and the fiendishly delicious aïoli.