Pesto Topped Smashed Potatoes
Pesto Topped Smashed Potatoes – a great any-night side dish or even an appetizer for your next get together. You can use store bough pesto but I prefer to make pesto fresh: Pesto in a Jiffy. The photos show fingerling potatoes – you can make this with any kind or colour of baby potatoes or roasted sweet potato rounds are also delicious! Mmmmm!
My Pesto in a Jiffy recipe is filled with basil, garlic, pine nuts, sesame seeds and nutritional yeast to make it super nutritious and it is delicious!
The flavour of the pesto with the softness of the potato is as absolute winning combination in this dish!
As always, when you make this recipe, please post a photo of your Pesto Topped Smashed Potatoes goodness and tag my IG account #RenataCollective or leave a comment with your thoughts!
Prep Time: 5 minutes / Cook time: 30 minutes / Makes: 12-14 smashed potatoes
Ingredients
12-14 Fingerling Potatoes
Water - to boil the potatoes
1 teaspoon Bouillon powder– to season the water. Alternate: ¼ teaspoon garlic powder and onion powder
1/3 Cup Pesto (try my Pesto in a Jiffy recipe)
How It’s Made
Preheat your oven to 425°F.
Wash/scrub the potatoes and place them in a medium sized pot.
Add the bouillon powder or the garlic and onion powder to season the water the potatoes will cook in.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium and cook the potatoes until a fork can pierce them easily.
Remove from heat and carefully drain the potatoes.
Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet.
Spread the potatoes onto the sheet leaving room between each.
With a flat surface – I use the top part of a wooden meat mallet but a large spoon would also work – push down and ‘smash’ each potato.
Spread or dollop pesto on each potato - as little or as much as you like. Just not too much or else the pesto will fall off when eating.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until the pesto and the sides of the potatoes are gently browned.
Remove from the oven and serve.
Enjoy!
Variations
You could roast sweet potato rounds to top with the pesto. Set your oven to 425°F Scrub a sweet potato and cut it into evenly thick rounds. On a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper of a silicon baking sheet, place the rounds and drizzle with a bit of olive oil, bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until a fork easily pierces the round. Carefully remove the baking sheet and dollop the pesto on top of each. Return to the oven for 15-20 minutes until the pesto and the sides of the sweet potatoes are gently browned. Remove from the oven and serve!
