Roasted new potato and mushroom salad with ricotta cheese

I can't seem to get enough of these forestiere mushrooms, which are only found at Tescos. This is highly irregular for me as I don't normally shop here, but I was first introduced to them by Mother in law Spread. They are the first new variety of mushroom to be launched in the last 30 years. They are also, so meaty and robust that they hold their own in this fabulous mushroom salad. I team them with crispy and crunchy roasted new potatoes and rich creamy ricotta cheese. Gipsy Spread got to have a couple of pork loin steaks with his, in case you were wondering.


What you will need
200g forestiere mushrooms
350g new potatoes
1 lemon
2 cloves garlic
2 table spoons chopped chives
100g rocket
Ricotta cheese


Firstly, halve or quarter the new potatoes based on size. Drizzle with olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and toss to coat the potatoes in the oil.


Place in an oven preheated to 200 degrees to cook for 25-30 minutes until crisp and brown on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.


Meanwhile, quarter the mushrooms and crush the garlic. Five minutes before the potatoes are cooked, place the mushrooms on to saute in some olive oil with the crushed garlic. Squeeze over the juice of half the lemon, the lemon zest and chives and stir through.

Serve the warm roasted potatoes on the rocket leaves, with the mushrooms and 2-3 heaped tea-spoon dollops (or even quinelles!) of ricotta cheese. Season well with black pepper and squeeze over any more lemon juice to taste.