Broccoli & spring green salad with hasslebacks and wild garlic pesto

It’s officially spring and this salad is perfect for the time of year. Lots of greens, some crispy hassleback potatoes and a wild garlic pesto made from leaves picked in our local park. I love this salad served warm on it’s own or part of a spread. It would be great if you’re BBQing over the next few weeks too.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

• 500g new potatoes

• 200g purple sprouting broccoli, trim & halve any with thick stalks

• 200g green beans, both ends cut

• 250g spring greens

• Juice of ½ lemon

Pesto

• 20g wild garlic (15 leaves)

• 30g basil

• 50g pinenuts

• 20g parmesan, grated

• 5 tbsp olive oil

• ¼ tsp sea salt

• Juice of ½ lemon

Method

• Preheat the oven to 200ºc.

• Make the pesto: toast the pine nuts in a frying pan (no oil) for 2-3 minutes, watching closely so they don’t burn. Allow them to cool before making the pesto. Next blitz the parmesan in the food processor and then add the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.

• Prep the potatoes: put them, one at a time, onto a wooden spoon and, starting at one end, cut across their width at 3mm intervals with a sharp knife – the spoon keeps the potato stable and stops you from cutting all the way through.

• Spread the potatoes on a baking tray, drizzle with 2-3 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle each one with sea salt. Roast for 50 minutes until the tops are crispy.

• Heat ½ tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan and char the broccoli for approx 10 minutes until just cooked, so it still has a bite.

• While the broccoli is cooking, steam the green beans for 5-6 minutes.

• Warm a plate briefly in the oven and then put the cooked broccoli and green beans on it while you prepare the spring greens. Cover the plate loosely with tin foil.

• Add the spring greens to the same pan as you used for the broccoli. Drizzle with a little olive oil, if needed, sprinkle with salt and fry on a low-medium heat for 3 minutes to soften.

• Toss the veggies in ½ tbsp olive oil, plus the juice of ¼ lemon and a pinch of salt, then arrange on a serving plate, spreading each vegetable out as evenly as possible.

• Nestle the potatoes in between the greens, top with spoons of pesto and squeeze over the remaining lemon quarter if needed. Serve straight away.