Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Vegan Pesto

Smashed Potatoes

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the potatoes. Cook the potatoes on medium heat and simmer for around 20 minutes, or until fork-tender. Drain the potatoes and add to a baking tray.
2. Add some olive oil to a baking tray and smash the potatoes into the tray with a glass or flat object.
3. Brush them with some extra olive oil to ensure they get crispy all around.
4. Cook the potatoes at 400F/200C for 30 minutes until crispy, turning them halfway through.

Fresh Basil Pesto

1. First, you'll need to separate the leaves from the stems of your basil. To make pesto, you can also use the stems, but we prefer to only use the leaves. Then, wash and dry all the leaves with a paper towel.
2. Add all the ingredients to make the pesto in a food processor or blender.
3. Incorporate the fresh basil, pine nuts, yeast flakes, garlic cloves, half of the olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Blend all the ingredients, and if needed, keep adding some more olive oil while blending the pesto. You may need to stop a few times to scrape down the bits left on the sides of the blender and make sure all the leaves are finely chopped and incorporated into the pesto sauce.
5. Transfer the smashed potatoes to a serving plate and serve with the vegan pesto. You can serve the pesto as a dip or add a little spoonful on top of each potato.