Vegan Pesto Potatoes With Balsamic Cherry Tomatoes & Onions

These pesto potatoes with balsamic cherry tomatoes and onions are an amazing side dish for the warmer months!

It is both refreshing and comforting and would work perfectly alongside a quiche or wellington.

POTATOES

Prepare the potatoes by peeling and chopping them - I cut them in half lengthways and then cut each half into thirds.

Then wash the potatoes and cook them in boiling salted water until soft (be careful not to overcook them, you should be able to cleanly stick a knife in them without them crumbling apart). While the potatoes are boiling preheat your oven to 220°c / 200°c (fan).

Once your potatoes are cooked, drain and scatter them across a baking tray with a sprinkle of salt and 1tbsp of olive oil.

Bake in the oven for 20/30 minutes, until the potatoes are golden brown.

BALSAMIC TOMATOES AND ONIONS

While the potatoes are roasting, wash and chop two handfuls of cherry tomatoes. You can cut them however you like, I chopped some tomatoes in halves and some in quarters as they varied in size.

Then in a frying pan heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat and add your cherry tomatoes along with some salt, pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder.

Cook for roughly 5 minutes until the tomatoes have softened.

Then finely slice half a red onion.

Toss the sliced onions and cherry tomatoes in 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar and leave to sit while you make the pesto coating.

PESTO

To make the pesto add a handful of spinach and basil to a blender along with one clove of garlic, 2 tbsp of sunflower seeds, 1 tbsp of pine nuts, the juice of half a lemon, 3 tbsp of water, 1 tbsp of nutritional yeast and a dash of salt and pepper.

Blend until smooth.

Finally, coat your potatoes in the pesto and top with the balsamic tomatoes and onions. Done!

INGREDIENTS:

For the roast potatoes

• 5 medium red potatoes (peeled and chopped - see method for how to chop)

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• Salt

For the balsamic cherry tomatoes and onions

• 2 handfuls cherry tomatoes (chopped - see method for how to cut)

• Half a red onion (finely sliced)

• 1/2 tbsp olive oil

• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar

For the pesto

• Handful of spinach

• Handful of basil

• 1 garlic clove

• 2 tbsp sunflower seeds

• 1 tbsp pine nuts

• Juice from 1/2 a lemon

• 3 tbsp water

• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

• Salt

• Pepper

METHOD:

1) Start by peeling and chopping the potatoes - cut them in half lengthways and then cut each half into thirds.

2) Then wash the potatoes and cook them in salted boiling water (I added roughly 1/2 tsp of salt to the water). Cook the potatoes until soft, but not so soft that they crumble! You should be able to stick a knife in the potatoes without them falling apart.

3) While the potatoes are boiling preheat the oven to 220°c / 200°c (fan).

4) Once your potatoes are cooked, drain and then place them in a baking tray with a sprinkle of salt and 1tbsp of olive oil. Roast in the oven for 20/30 minutes, until golden brown.

5) While the potatoes are roasting, wash and chop two handfuls of cherry tomatoes. My tomatoes varied in size so I cut the large ones in halves and the smaller tomatoes into quarters.

6) Next, heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add your cherry tomatoes to the pan along with some salt, pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder. Cook the tomatoes for roughly 5 minutes until they have softened.

7) While the cherry tomatoes are cooking, finely slice half a red onion.

8) Once cooked add the cherry tomatoes and sliced onions to a bowl with 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar. Leave to soak while you make the pesto coating.

9) To make the pesto add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.

10) Finally, stir the pesto through the roasted potatoes and top with the balsamic tomatoes and onions.