Baked New Potatoes with Chives, Cornish Yarg & Hot Cheese Sauce from The Farm Kitchen

“One of life’s most simple and arguably best delights is freshly pulled potatoes from the garden in springtime. There is something magical about the smell of warm earth and the anticipation of the treasures that are waiting for you below. While you cannot beat a new potato treated simply with a smidge of butter, some robust sea salt and perhaps a few mint leaves, I love potatoes so much that I feel they need to be celebrated – elevated even – so here is my super-indulgent, jubilant ode to the humble new potato.” Abby Allen, author of The Farm Kitchen

Serves 4

300g (10½oz) new potatoes, scrubbed (I like to use Charlotte potatoes)

A drizzle of organic rapeseed oil

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

Grass-fed butter

150g (5½oz) Cornish Yarg cheese, sliced

40g (1½oz) chives, flowers picked and stems chopped

Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the cheese sauce

2 organic and/or free-range egg yolks

300g (10½oz) crème fraîche

70g (2½oz) clothbound Cheddar, grated

50g (1¾oz) Old Winchester cheese, grated

A small pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.

Tip the new potatoes into a roasting tray, drizzle with a generous glug of oil and a big pinch of sea salt, then give everything a shake to ensure the potatoes are well covered. Bake in the oven for around 45–50 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and leave to cool for just a few minutes. Slice them down the centre, not quite all the way through, season the flesh with salt and pepper, then douse with a generous splash of cider vinegar. Add a little knob of butter to each potato, then take a slice of Cornish Yarg and wedge it into the centre, scattering over the chopped chives as you go. Set aside.

To make the cheese sauce, set a pan of simmering water over a high heat and place a heatproof bowl over the pan, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Add the egg yolks and crème fraîche to the bowl and whisk vigorously until the mixture thickens. Remove the bowl from the heat and tip in the grated cheeses, a pinch of salt and pepper and a small pinch of nutmeg and carefully mix to combine.

Serve immediately, dunking the vinegary potatoes into the rich, hot cheese sauce or drizzling it over them.