New potatoes are good with virtually nothing on them. Thanks to my friend Ann, I had a steady supply of new potatoes for a couple of weeks last month. Some of them were huge, some were tiny, but all of them were delicious. New potatoes have a unique flavour. Their season is short-lived but quite memorable. Not to be confused with the baby potatoes supermarkets sell in plastic bags, those tend to be very old, thick skinned and are not particularly flavourful. I cooked these with capers, they added a unique flavour, but in all fairness the capers are not necessary. Omit the capers and you still have a lovely side dish with fresh herbs. Sometimes the simpler things end up being the more flavourful. The trick to cooking these potatoes is not to hurry, don’t leave them and keep the heat to a low medium.
NEW POTATOES WITH CAPERS
500 g new potatoes
1 Tbsp capers
1 cup water
few fresh rosemary sprigs
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
• Wash the new potatoes and scrub them if need to.
• Cut the large ones to make them uniformly sized with the smallest potato. Leave the small ones whole. This will ensure even cooking.
• Place the potatoes in a deep non stick skillet.
• Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to a slow simmer and cook the potatoes until all the water evaporates. New potatoes should be tender by then. If this is not the case, add a little more water and simmer until the potatoes are tender. With the water evaporated sauté the potatoes in the remaining olive oil until all sides are lightly browned. Do not stir, just gently shake the pan.
• Discard the herbs and serve the new potatoes.
