Hardly a week goes by without me preparing a potato dish for dinner. I particularly love roasted potatoes because they don't require much active cooking. I just toss the potatoes with a bit of olive oil and salt and let them roast while I prepare the rest of my dinner. They're absolutely wonderful.
These roasted fingerling potatoes are one of my favorite dishes. Typically, I slice the fingerlings in half or in quarters if I'm working with larger potatoes. Then, I roast them, cut side down, at 400ºF undisturbed. This gives the potatoes time to develop a lovely golden crust. Once they're roasted for 30 minutes, I raise the temperature to 425ºF. The heat in my oven doesn't distribute evenly, so I like to check the color of the potatoes and flip over the ones that have roasted into a deep golden brown color. Then, I'll pop them back into the oven and roast them for another 8 to 10 minutes.
I am pairing the roasted fingerlings with a vegan chipotle aioli. Aiolis are most commonly made with an egg yolk that is whisked with a lot of oil. This gives the sauce its richness. While I don't mind digging into such decadence when I'm eating out, I try to keep things a bit healthier at home.
For this sauce, I'm relying on cashew cream (a blend of soaked cashews and water) to give the sauce creaminess and a hint of sweetness. To make the sauce, I soaked the cashews first to soften them. If you want to preserve the full nutritional benefits of cashews, soak them in filtered water overnight. However, if you are pinched for time, soak them in boiling water for an hour.
You'll probably have a lot of this chipotle aioli left over, so use the rest as a dip or as a spread for your sandwiches!
Ingredients
For the chipotle aioli:
- ¾ cup raw cashews
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon filtered water
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 ½ tablespoons roughly chopped chives
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon chili seasoning mix
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
For the roasted fingerling potatoes:
- 1 ½ pounds fingerling potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Pinch of salt
- Cracked black pepper
- Chopped chives
Instructions
- Begin by soaking the cashews for the chipotle aioli. Place the cashews into a bowl or a glass jar. Pour boiling water over the cashews, just enough to cover them. Let the cashews sit for 45 minutes to an hour.
- To make the roasted fingerling potatoes, preheat oven to 400ºF. Set an oven rack in the center position. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Rinse the fingerling potatoes. Slice the potatoes in half. If you have larger fingerling potatoes, slice them into quarters. Toss the potatoes with the olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- Spread the potatoes over the prepared baking sheet. Arrange the potatoes so that they are cut side down. Bake the potatoes for 30 minutes.
- Take the potatoes out of the oven and increase the oven temperature to 425ºF. Lift the potatoes and check their color. If they are a deep golden brown, flip them over. Many ovens don't roast the potatoes evenly, so you may end up flipping about half of the potatoes only. Return the potatoes to the oven and roast for another 8 to 10 minutes.
- While the potatoes are baking, prepare the chipotle aioli. Drain the cashews. Using a high-speed blender or an immersion blender, blend the cashews, filtered water, lemon juice, chipotle peppers, garlic, chives, salt and chili seasoning until smooth. Drizzle in the olive oil and blend until incorporated. Pour the chipotle aioli into a bowl and let it sit until the potatoes are finished baking.
- Sprinkle the potatoes with a bit of black pepper and chopped chives, if you like. Serve the potatoes with the aioli.
Bethany @ athletic avocado says
Ohhh crispy potatoes are always featured on my dinner plates, you just can't go wrong with them! This thick creamy aioli looks like the perfect dipping sauce for them!
All That I'm Eating says
I love the shape of those potatoes, they look almost like bananas! I tried a similar mayo to yours in a vegan restaurant, it was cashew based too and it was amazing. This sounds perfect for dipping!
Bethany says
These look awesome! I love homemade fries!!