Spring Garlic Sauce with Roasted Potatoes

Roasted potatoes with spring garlic sauce
Roasted potatoes with spring garlic sauce

When we were working on our editorial calendar, Denise said she was working on ham steaks, which you saw last week. We thought that ham seemed like a traditional Easter dish, so maybe we should also consider a side dish for it. I LOVE side dishes. The first thing that came to mind was scalloped potatoes, as that goes with ham. Actually, it’s what my mother used to make with leftover ham.

But I realized that I hated ham and scalloped potatoes! Until my 30s, I didn’t like ham at all. And I know it’s surprising, but scalloped potatoes are my least favorite preparation of potatoes. I tried to figure out why. I’m not opposed to creamy sauces, and potatoes are my favorite food by far, but I realized that the texture of the potatoes just isn’t to my liking. So I fixed it.

I fixed it by cooking the potatoes separately from the sauce. This dish is made of perfectly roasted potatoes, crisp on the outside, fluffy inside, topped with a creamy sauce made from cashews and white beans flavored with rich roasted garlic and fresh, green scallion tops. It’s a light spring green sauce that goes well with the roasted potatoes but is also good on other vegetables, chicken, and maybe even pasta (I didn’t try that, but I think it would work as a basis for a spring vegetable pasta sauce).

potatoes1Spring Garlic Sauce with Roasted Potatoes

Spring Garlic Sauce with Roasted Potatoes
Print Recipe
This is a substitute for scalloped potatoes -- roasted potatoes are fluffy inside, and are covered with a creamy garlic sauce made of cashews and white beans.
Servings Prep Time
2 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
40 minutes 35 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
40 minutes 35 minutes
Spring Garlic Sauce with Roasted Potatoes
Print Recipe
This is a substitute for scalloped potatoes -- roasted potatoes are fluffy inside, and are covered with a creamy garlic sauce made of cashews and white beans.
Servings Prep Time
2 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
40 minutes 35 minutes
Servings Prep Time
2 servings 15 minutes
Cook Time Passive Time
40 minutes 35 minutes
Ingredients
Roasted Potatoes
  • 3 cups raw potatoes, cubed (2-4 potatoes, depending on size)
  • 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon kosher salt
Spring Garlic Sauce
  • 1/2 cup white beans
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked 8 hours or overnight
  • 2 cloves roasted garlic (taste and add more if you want more. Garlic varies greatly in intensity.)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup water (you may need more -- see the recipe itself)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice or mild vinegar
  • 1 bunch scallions, green tops only (4-6 scallions in a bunch, depending on size)
Servings: servings
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450F.
  2. Scrub potatoes. Peel if desired. Cut into approximately 1/2-inch cubes. Toss with olive oil and salt -- start with 1 tablespoon, and add more if needed. You don't want to waste oil, but you do want everything decently coated to help the potatoes brown. Throw them into the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes.
  3. While the potatoes are cooking, make the sauce. Throw all the ingredients except the scallions into a blender or food processor and pulse. Add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, only if needed! You want this sauce to be thick. When the sauce is mostly smooth, add the scallion tops and blend until smooth.
  4. Toss the hot potatoes with sauce to coat. Yes, this is different than the photos -- I was aiming for "artistic arrangement of food," though it didn't really work.
Recipe Notes

You do need to roast garlic for this recipe. You could do this at the same time as the potatoes, but you will have to wait for it to cool off to get out the cloves, so this will take longer than estimated. I always roast extra garlic and keep it on hand in the freezer.

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