Smash potato and brussel sprout salad
What improves a sprout dish? Potatoes. Always potatoes.
Introducing a salad that’s about to become your festive favourite: the Brussels Sprout and Smashed Potato Salad with Comté Cheese, Hazelnuts, and Capers. This dish brings together the humble potato and the often-misunderstood Brussels sprout, elevating them with a symphony of flavours and textures that will make your taste buds sing.
Tell me more…
Let’s talk about the stars of the show: baby potatoes and Brussels sprouts. By boiling them together, we ensure they’re tender and ready to absorb all the deliciousness that follows. Smashing them before roasting increases their surface area, allowing them to become irresistibly crispy in the oven. This technique transforms simple ingredients into something truly special.
Now, onto the flavour bomb that is the pesto-style dressing. We’re combining garlic, hazelnuts, and fresh parsley, pounding them together to release their oils and aromas. Adding olive oil and Comté cheese creates a rich, nutty dressing that clings to every nook and cranny of our smashed veggies. The capers bring a briny punch, cutting through the richness and adding a delightful tang.
Comté cheese, with its complex flavours and creamy texture, melts beautifully over the warm potatoes and sprouts, adding a luxurious touch to the salad. To finish, a sprinkle of toasted hazelnuts provides a satisfying crunch, while fresh parsley adds a burst of colour and freshness.
How to enjoy this festive delight
This salad is versatile enough to be a main course or a hearty side. It pairs wonderfully with roasted meats or can stand alone as a vegetarian treat. The combination of textures from the crispy edges of the smashed potatoes and sprouts to the creamy melted cheese and crunchy hazelnuts makes every bite pure heaven.
For those looking to prepare ahead, you can boil and smash the potatoes and sprouts in advance, then roast them just before serving to ensure they’re perfectly crispy. The dressing can also be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge; just bring it to room temperature before drizzling it over the salad.
Whether you’re serving it at a festive gathering or as a comforting weeknight meal, this Brussels Sprout and Smashed Potato Salad is sure to impress. It’s a celebration of simple ingredients transformed into something extraordinary. A dish that’s as delightful to look at as it is to eat.
So, gather your ingredients, preheat your oven, and get ready to create a salad that’s bound to become a new favourite.
Smash potato and brussel sprout salad
By Poppy Cooks
https://www.poppycooks.com/recipes/smash-potato-and-brussel-sprout-salad/
Ingredients
- 200g brussel sprouts
- 8 medium maris pipers, halved
- 2 tsp garlic granules
- 2 tsp onion granules
- 15g fresh flat leaf parsley, leaves picked
- 30g Comte cheese, finely grated
- 15 hazelnuts
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 1 tbsp capers
- Olive oil, salt and pepper
Metric
Imperial
Instructions
- Place all of the halved potatoes into a pot of cold, heavily salted water. Bring to a boil and cook for 15-20 minutes until fork tender but not falling apart. For the last 5 minutes of cooking, throw the sprouts into the pan.
- Drain the potatoes and sprouts into a colander and leave to steam dry for a few minutes. Preheat the oven to 200ºc fan/220ºc/400ºf. In a small bowl, mix together 4 tbsp olive oil, the garlic granules and onion granules with a pinch of salt and pepper. Tip all of the sprouts and potatoes onto a large baking tray and use a cup or ramekin to smash them down flat.
- Spread the onion and garlic oil all over the sprouts and potatoes, then roast in the oven for 45 minutes. Turn them over and return to the oven for another 15-20 minutes, until super crispy. If your sprouts are starting to go a little too dark, just remove them from the tray.
- While the potatoes are roasting, make the pesto-style dressing. In a pestle and mortar (or a mini chopper if you like) bash up the garlic clove and hazelnuts. Add in the parsley with a glug of olive oil and half of the grated cheese.
- Pound the parsley into the garlic and hazelnuts until it forms a thick pesto, then add more oil to get a dressing consistency. Season well with salt and pepper, then stir through the capers. You can either mix everything together and serve as it is, or I like to layer up the sprouts and crispy potatoes with spoonfuls of the dressing to preserve some of the crisp. Sprinkle with a final pinch of salt and pepper, then scatter over the remaining cheese.