Vegetarian mains
Potato and wet garlic tortilla with two-bean chervil salad
Wet garlic is young garlic, picked before the bulb has had time to really form. It looks a bit like a small leek, or overgrown spring onion. It's only available for a few weeks each year on the farm, so we make the most if it. Use it raw, shredded into salads, fried, or cut into chunks, tossed in oil and roasted. You can use the whole stalk, it has a much milder flavour than dried garlic. Use it in recipes that call for ordinary garlic, adding a handful of shredded wet garlic instead. This tortilla can be served warm or cold, so use any leftovers for your lunchbox or another meal.
Ingredients
- 400g potatoes
- 3 spring onions
- 200g green beans
- 1 stick wet garlic
- 15g chervil
- 4 eggs
- oil for frying e.g. sunflower or light olive
- 1 tin cannellini beans – use ½
- 1 lemon
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Scrub the potatoes clean, keeping the skins intact. Cut into thin rounds, about three quarters cm thick. Place them in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and cook until just tender, about 4-5 minutes.
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Step 2
Drain and keep to one side. While the potatoes are cooking, wash and trim 3 spring onions, then finely slice, using both the white and green parts. Put a pan of salted water on to boil. Wash the green beans and trim off any stalk tops.
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Step 3
Wash half the bag of chervil. Cut about third to a half off the wet garlic, depending on size (see cook's note). Cut that piece in half lengthways, then into very thin shreds (keep the rest for other cooking). Lightly whisk the eggs together in a large bowl and season them with salt and pepper.
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Step 4
Once the potatoes are cooked and drained, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the spring onions and shredded wet garlic. Stir on a low heat for 1-2 minutes to gently wilt them. Gently mix the potatoes, spring onion and wet garlic into the whisked eggs.
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Step 5
Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the egg and potato mixture to the same frying pan. Tip the mixture from side to side to even it out. Cook the tortilla on a very low heat, about 5 minutes or so, enough to set the bottom half (take care not to burn it).
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Step 6
Meanwhile, put your grill on a low to medium heat. Once half cooked, finish the tortilla under the grill, until the top is just set and pale golden. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the tortilla to stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, roughly chop the chervil.
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Step 7
Cook the green beans in the pan of boiling water for 4-5 minutes, until tender but still with a squeak to them. Drain the tinned white beans into a colander and rinse under cold water. Drain the green beans.
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Step 8
Warm them with half the cannellini beans in the same pan, then stir in the chopped chervil, season and add a squeeze of lemon juice and a glug of olive oil to taste. Serve with the tortilla, cut into wedges.