Italian American Garlicky Potato Salad
It’s super rustic looking…chunky.
Time: 50 minutes
Ingredient Availability: 5/5
Difficulty: 1/5
Americans are probably most used to potato salad that is mostly mayo and potatoes. This recipe substitutes the fattiness and creaminess of mayonnaise with olive oil and avocado. It sounds interesting and looks pretty tasty in the Italian American Cookbook, so I had to give it a try.
Key Ingredients and Omissions:
The ingredients in this recipe were pretty simple, so nothing was left out. One thing I will mention is that the recipe calls for baby red potatoes. While mine were labeled petite, I don’t think they were quite as small as the ones shown in the book.
Tools:
Large Pot
Bowl
Rasp Style Grater
Sharp Knife
Cooking Review:
Prep & Boil Water: 15 minutes
While the water came to a boil, I cut the potatoes, zested and squeezed the lemon, chopped the green onion and celery , and grated the garlic.
Garlic oil & Cooking Potatoes: 25 minutes
Once the water was boiling, I added some salt along with the halved potatoes. While those were cooking, I heated some oil over medium heat and added the grated garlic. Be careful here, as you can easily overcook the garlic, leading to bitter notes in the finished product. I cooked my garlic for about 3 minutes before adding some seasonings and cooking for another 2 minutes. The garlic will continue to cook and darken once removed from the heat, so I would recommend you cook yours for less time than I did.
Finishing: 11 minutes
Once the potatoes were done cooking, I drained them and transferred them to a bowl. The garlic oil was poured over the potatoes and mixed until somewhat creamy. The lemon juice and green onions were mixed in next. Finally, I cut up an avocado and folded it into the potato salad to finish it off.
Analysis:
Initially, the flavor of this potato salad is pretty fresh and bright thanks to the olive oil, lemon juice, and green onion. It’s very well balanced on the front end both flavor wise and texturally. The green onions and celery contrast nicely against the soft potatoes. However, I think I overcooked the garlic, as there is some bitterness on the back end that is unfortunate. It isn’t so bad that it’s inedible, but it is clear that something isn’t quite right. The avocado kind of disappears into this potato salad and I don’t think it really contributes much to the experience. Perhaps it adds just a little creaminess, but I think most of the creaminess comes from the olive oil and potato starches combining. In any case, I can tell that if I hadn’t overdone the garlic, this would have been very good. I just think it’s a little too easy to be ruined by that one step of cooking the garlic. I’m going to give this a 6/10. Some people will really like this different style of potato salad, while others will wish they stuck with what they know.
