Smashed Potatoes with Green Ranch Dressing
Name a better vegetable than the potato, I dare you. Whether they are fried, mashed or smashed, potatoes can always be transformed into something delicious. These smashed potatoes have been quite the hit on social media of late, so I decided to recreate my own, dipping/drizzling them with Ottolenghi’s green ranch dressing, a stellar recipe from Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest Ottolenghi Test Kitchen - Extra Good things cookbook.
I admittedly am yet to try the ‘bloomin’ leeks’ recipe this sauce designed to be used in, however am keen to make them in the next coming days to use up the rest of this luscious green sauce.
The green ranch dressing recipe can be found online via the Food52 website, or as below:
Green Ranch Dressing
20 grams chives, roughly chopped
10g dill, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons buttermilk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
100g sour cream
Salt and black pepper
Smashed potatoes
Maldon sea salt flakes
cracked black pepper
garlic granules (optional)
Olive oil (optional but highly recommended)
Method
Preheat fan-forced oven to 205°C.
Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Chuck in the potatoes and lightly simmer for 30-40 minutes, until fork tender. Drain and allow to steam dry for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the ranch dressing by first adding the chives, dill, garlic, buttermilk, olive oil, lime juice, mustard and ⅓ teaspoon of salt, and a good grind of pepper into a food processor or blender and blitzing until smooth. Pour into a bowl and stir through the sour cream and store covered in the fridge until needed.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and arrange the potatoes. Using a knife, cut a criss cross in each potato, slicing down about half way. Using a glass or ramekin with a circumference larger than the potatoes, gently push down to squash the potatoes. The aim here is to keep them in tact as one flat disc, ensuring you don’t smash them into seperate pieces.
Lightly drizzle with olive oil if desired, then sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic granules if using.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until golden and crispy. The skins should be crunchy and the insides should still be fluffy and soft. If you want them more crispy, leave in the oven longer - you may need to reduce the heat of the oven.
Allow the potatoes to cool for 15 minutes, then serve with the dreamy green ranch dressing. These potatoes are also great topped with a fried egg for brekky, don’t knock it until you try it ;).