Small Plate Supper

This plant based Small Plate Supper matches salty hasselback potatoes with garlicky lemon houmous and a tomato and rocket salad with basil oil.

It suits me when I am in the mood to have a few small plates to dip into on a summer evening. I love the different tastes and breaking open the crispy potatoes to scoop up the houmous with a mouthful of cooling salad in between.

This amount will feed around four people, perhaps with some extra bread for scooping up the last of the tomato juices and houmous from the plates.

Ingredients

Hasselback Potatoes

1kg Jersey Royal Potatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

Flaky sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Houmous

2 tsp coriander seeds

2 x 400g tin chickpeas

4 cloves garlic chopped

Juice and zest 1 lemon

4 tbsp mild olive oil

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil for dressing

1 tsp paprika

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Tomato salad

4 large on the vine tomatoes thinly sliced

2 tbsp Homemade Summer Basil Oil

2 handfuls of rocket leaves

1 tbsp olive oil

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for seasoning

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200cc/180c Fan/Gas Mark 6

Prepare the potatoes. Place each potato on a wooden spoon and cut into it at approx 3mm intervals. The curve of the spoon will stop you cutting all the way through the potato.

Rub the potatoes with the olive oil and season. Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 - 50 minutes until crispy and golden. When they are ready crumble a little flaky sea salt over each of the potatoes.

While the potatoes are cooking make the houmous and salad.

For the houmous, start by toasting the coriander seeds. Heat them in a dry hot frying pan for 1-2 minutes until you start to smell the aroma. Grind to a powder in a pestle and mortar or spice grinder.

Put all the houmous ingredients except the oil into a food processor and pulse until just combined. Then turn on to mix for approx 1 minute, pouring the oil into the houmous as it blends. Keep the food processor running until the houmous is the consistency you like.

Thinly slice the tomatoes and arrange in a circle around the edge of a plate. Place the rocket in a pile in the middle. Season the tomatoes and rocket with sea salt. Drizzle the basil oil over the tomatoes and the olive oil over the rocket.

When the potatoes are ready, put the houmous onto a plate and drizzle over some extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the paprika.

Serve everything together and let everyone dig in.