Artichokes and new potatoes with garlic mayonnaise and toast

Artichokes and new potatoes with garlic mayonnaise and toast

Summer

That moment, when I’m heaping warm artichoke hearts and tender waxy potatoes onto crunchy, salty sourdough, then smothering everything in garlicky mayonnaise, right there, that is happiness. And returning to Earth – some people trim and bin the majority of the artichoke leaves before cooking the hearts themselves, but I think we may as well cook the whole things and then eat the lovely tender flesh from the leaves instead. It seems less wasteful to me. If time is of the essence, you can make a pretty speedy version of this warm salad with decent ready-prepared artichoke hearts in oil.

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 8 large globe artichokes
  • 800g (1lb 12oz) new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
  • 1 large handful of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped, plus a few sprigs to garnish
  • Juice of ½ lemon
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Slices of toasted country-style bread, to serve

For the mayonnaise

  • 1 garlic clove, very finely grated
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 125ml (5½fl oz) sunflower oil
  • 75ml (2¼fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil

Method

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the artichokes
(in batches, if necessary) and bring the water back to the simmer. Simmer for 15–40 minutes (depending on size and freshness) with the lid on, until the bases of the artichokes take the point of a knife. Lift them from the water and set aside to cool. Pull away the leaves one by one, then use your teeth to scrape the delicate flesh from the base. When you reach the hearts, remove the hairy choke, which you can’t eat, then cut each heart into little wedges and set aside.

Place the potatoes in a pan and cover with cold water. Set the pan over a high heat and bring to the simmer. Cook the potatoes until just tender, then drain. Now return the potatoes to the warm pan and add the prepared artichoke hearts, along with the olive oil, chopped parsley and lemon juice, and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Tumble this all together and

set aside.

Make the mayonnaise. Place the garlic, egg yolk, mustard and cider vinegar in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper and whiz for 30 seconds. Combine the oils in a jug. With the processor running, slowly add them
to the mixture, a few drops at a time at first, then in a trickle. Once you’ve added all the oil, you should have a thick, glossy mayo that holds its shape. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.

Divide the warm artichokes and potatoes between 4 serving plates. Add a big spoonful of the mayonnaise to each plate and scatter over the parsley sprigs. Serve with some good-quality toast trickled with olive oil and sprinkled with flaky salt.

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