Patatas bravas

Francesca

Just the words ‘patatas bravas’ make the mouth water! We love turning our attention to the staples in the box – potatoes, onions and carrots – and we’ve gone with a classic dish today. Recipe by Jamie Oliver. Don’t forget you can add organic garlic and tinned tomatoes to your Regather order via the online shop. So why not make it a tapas night in your kitchen on the weekend and let these ‘fierce potatoes’ be the dish that everyone swoops on first.

Ingredients

  • 4 medium potatoes, peeled and halved (approx 800g)
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled, finely sliced
  • 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves picked
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • Bravas Sauce:
  • olive oil
  • 1 onion, peeled, finely chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled, sliced
  • 3 fresh red chillies, deseeded, roughly chopped
  • 1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
  • a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
  • 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar

Method

  1. Parboil the potatoes over a medium heat for 10 to 15 mins, or until starting to get tender but still holding their shape. Drain in a colander and leave to steam dry until cool.
  2. Meanwhile, put a pan on a low heat and start your bravas sauce. Add a glug of olive oil and, once hot, add the chopped onion and sliced garlic. Cook for 5 mins, or until the onion is soft but not coloured. Add the chillies, carrot and thyme leaves and cook for another 5 mins.
  3. Add the tinned tomatoes, sherry vinegar and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Bring to boil, then turn heat down and simmer for 15 mins, or until carrots are soft and the sauce is thick.
  4. While the sauce simmers, cut potatoes into large bite-sized chunks. Put a large frying pan on medium heat and add 0.5cm of olive oil. When oil is hot, carefully add potatoes to the pan. Cook for about 8 mins, turning occasionally until golden all over.
  5. Do this in batches rather than overcrowd the pan. Add the garlic and rosemary to the pan for the last minute of cooking.
  6. Transfer the potatoes, garlic and rosemary to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Scatter over the paprika, fennel seeds and a good pinch of salt and toss together until well coated.
  7. Put the cooked sauce in a blender, or use a hand blender, and whiz until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve in a jug next to the potatoes or, to be more traditional, pour sauce over the potatoes before serving and toss together.