Royal Potato Salad

My mother whipped up this salad during our visit and we could barely stop ourselves from eating the whole bowl when we all “tasted” it to check the seasoning levels. It is based on a recipe from the cookbook Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi. The original recipe calls for quail eggs and sorrel but we substituted chicken eggs and mint. It is a very satisfying potato salad that could easily make for a light lunch with a green salad, or accompany grilled sausages or chicken.

Royal Potato Salad
Serves 8 as a side
3.5 pounds of red skinned potatoes
7 hard-boiled eggs
2 cups of basil, chopped
1 cup of parsley leaves, chopped
2/3 cups of pine nuts
1 cup of grated Parmesan
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 3/4 cups olive oil
1 teaspoon of white balsamic or white wine vinegar
1/4 cup mint, chopped
2 cups of baby sweet peas
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Add eggs to a saucepan full of water and bring to a boil. Let sit for 10 minutes and rinse under cool water.
2. Cook the potatoes in boiling water until they are tender but not falling apart.
3. Steam the peas until tender, about 2 minutes and blanch in ice water to stop cooking.
4. While the potatoes are cooking, combine the basil, parsley, pine nuts, Parmesan and garlic in a food processor and pulse into a paste. Gradually add olive oil and pulse to incorporate. Pour mixture into a large bowl and add vinegar.
5. Drain (and optionally peel) the potatoes and cut into bite-sized chunks as soon as they can be handled. Add immediately after cut to oil mixture and toss. Add the peas and incorporate and add salt and pepper to toss.
6. Peel and chop eggs and fold into the salad with the mint. Serve warm or room temperature.