These potatoes with their accompanying preserved lemons and artichokes go especially well with Gold-encrusted, Greek, super-slow-cooked lamb (cries of ‘this is exquisite!’ and ‘one of the best meals I’ve had for months’), but it would also go well with roast chicken, and a plain grilled white fish.
The vegetables are soft from being half braised, but the time spent at roasting temperatures, together with the honey caramelises them. Fabulous!
NB – this is not difficult, but allow about an hour and a half to make.
Recipe for potatoes with preserved lemons, artichokes and carrots
Serves 6
Ingredients
- 750g/1 lb 10 oz new potatoes
- 12 banana shallots
- 1 whole bulb of garlic
- ½”/1 cm ginger
- ½ tsp Aleppo pepper (you could also use Byadgi chilli) – if you prefer a bit more piquancy add another half teaspoon
- A few sprigs of thyme
- 3 preserved lemons
- 5 bay leaves
- 80 ml/⅓ cup oil – use the oil drained from the artichokes, and make up the deficit with olive oil
- 120 ml/½ cup dry vermouth (I use Noilly Prat)
- 360 ml/1½ cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you are a vegetarian) made with two stock cubes
- 3 x 280g net weight jars of artichoke hearts in oil (hopefully olive oil) – total drained weight 480g/1 lb
- 2 tbsp honey
- 300g/14 oz organic heritage or baby carrots
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
Method
- Boil a full kettle.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Pour the boiling water into a medium saucepan and boil the potatoes (halving any larger ones first) – don’t bother to peel obviously – for about 15 minutes – until not quite done.
- Meanwhile scrape the carrots not terribly carefully with a potato peeler – you just want to take off any black or scabby bits. Put them into a big roasting tin.
- Peel (just press down with the flat of a broad knife – the skin will come off easily) each of the cloves of garlic – add to the carrots.
- Peel the banana shallots and cut lengthways into quarters – add to the carrots.
- Add the stock, the vermouth and the honey.
- Drain the artichokes, and use the oil to make up 80ml/⅓ cup – if you need any more oil, supplement with olive oil. Set the artichokes to one side.
- Grate over the ginger.
- Add the sprigs of thyme and the bay leaves.
- Sprinkle over the Aleppo pepper.
- Put into the oven for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, drain the potatoes.
- Slice the preserved lemons and cut each slice in half.
- Crush the coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle
- Take the roasting tray out of the oven, and increase the oven temperature to 210°C
- Stir, and add the potatoes, the lemons and the crushed coriander seeds.
- Return to the oven, and roast for another 30 minutes.
- About ten minutes later, cut the artichoke hearts vertically in half, and add to rest of the ingredients, stirring all up so everything is covered with liquid.
- Take out of the oven, and serve.
For an alternative recipe see Montepulciano onion-braised potatoes – here’s the link.
