Recipes › Peas (Sugar Snap) › Warm Sugar Snap Pea, New Potato and Anchovy Salad
Warm Sugar Snap Pea, New Potato and Anchovy Salad
A salad that earns its place as a proper meal — waxy new potatoes dressed while still warm, heaps of crunchy sugar snap peas, and a bold, punchy anchovy dressing that brings the whole thing to life. This is solidly a British summer plate in the spirit of Nicoise, but using what is actually growing in the garden right now. Make it once and it will become a regular from June through September.
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Ingredients
- 350 sugar snap peas, strings removed, halved lengthways
- 600 g new potatoes, scrubbed, halved if large
- 50 g anchovy fillets in oil, drained, oil reserved
- 30 g capers, roughly chopped
- 1 cloves garlic, finely grated
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 20 g flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 100 g radishes, thinly sliced
- 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
Contains: fish, sulphites, mustard.
Method
- Put the new potatoes in a large pan of well-salted cold water. Bring to the boil and cook for 15 to 18 minutes until completely tender when pierced with a knife. Drain and leave to steam-dry in the colander for 2 minutes.About 20 min
- While the potatoes cook, make the dressing. Finely chop 6 of the anchovy fillets to a paste on a board. Transfer to a jar with the garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard and a grind of black pepper. Shake vigorously until emulsified. Taste — it should be punchy and savoury.About 4 min
- Tip the still-warm potatoes into a large bowl and immediately pour over half the dressing. Toss gently and leave to absorb for 5 minutes.About 5 min
- Bring the potato cooking water back to the boil (or use fresh boiling water). Blanch the sugar snap peas for 90 seconds, then drain and immediately add to the potatoes.About 2 min
- Add the capers, radishes, parsley and remaining anchovy fillets (left whole or torn) to the bowl. Pour over the remaining dressing and toss everything together gently but thoroughly.About 2 min
- Taste for seasoning — the anchovies carry a lot of salt so you may not need any more. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tips
- Dress the potatoes while they are still hot — warm potatoes absorb dressing in a way that cold ones simply do not, and the flavour is completely different.
- Keep the sugar snap peas to exactly 90 seconds in the boiling water. You want them bright and snappy, not softened into the background of the dish.
- The anchovy oil from the tin is brilliant — use it in the dressing in place of some of the olive oil if you want an even deeper flavour.
Ring the changes
- Add 4 soft-boiled eggs, halved, to turn this into a more substantial main course salad.
- Replace the anchovies with 100g of tinned tuna in olive oil for a milder, more accessible version — still pescatarian and still very good.
Keeping it
Best eaten on the day while still warm or at room temperature. Store any leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 1 day. Do not reheat — bring back to room temperature and add a small splash of olive oil to refresh.
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