These potatoes are my newest obsession! First of all, they’re as cute as anything I’ve ever seen. Secondly, they are parboiled and then grilled, which gives them a smooth texture on the inside, and a slightly soft outside with just the right amount of grilled bits. And, of course, lastly, there’s the awesome flavour of basil, garlic, and parmesan cheese from the basil pesto.
I was so afraid to try basil pesto. I’m not a huge fan of basil, in fact, John.e and I tend to both favour the opposite in terms of herbs. For example, whenever we make pizza, he loads up on the basil, and I can’t get enough oregano. Opposites attract, so they say!
Even though making your own pesto is as easy as pie, sometimes the jarred, store-bought variety does the job quite well. I used a jar of pesto just to make things easier this time around. Speaking of jarred pesto… I have my favourite brand of sun dried tomato pesto, which I buy often, but a few weeks back, John.e convinced me to buy basil pesto. Since I was off carbs that week, I gave in and made him some simple pasta with it. Well, the smell was insanely intoxicating – in a good way! And, I had to try it. It was delicious. Basil finally won me over!
These baby potatoes are drenched in the flavours of basil pesto and let me tell you, I was not afraid to pop these babies into my mouth! They are delicious! Oh, and we had leftovers, so the next morning, I roughly chopped them up and they helped to make a very tasty breakfast served with eggs and toast. Yum!
Grilled Basil Pesto Potato Skewers
Pin Recipe Save Recipe Print RecipeIngredients
- 3 pounds multi-coloured baby potatoes, parboiled
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup basil pesto
- fresh chives, chopped, for garnish
Instructions
- For this recipe, it is best to use metal skewers since the grilling time is longer than a wooden skewer can hold up to.
- Begin by adding the potatoes to a pot of unsalted boiling water. Normally, these will take about 20 minutes to cook completely. Do not leave these to cook that long. About 10 minutes will do depending on the size of your potatoes. Once you can easily pierce the skin with a fork, drain the water and set the potatoes aside to cool.
- In the meantime, whisk together the olive oil, salt, pepper, and basil pesto.
- Once the potatoes are cooled, gently toss with the marinade and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
- Pierce the desired number of potatoes onto the skewers. Save the marinade!
- With the grill on medium heat, place the skewers on direct heat. Grill for 10-15 minutes, turning every 2-3 minutes or so. When done, remove from the heat.
- Use the leftover marinade to baste the grilled skewers before serving. Any remaining marinade can be placed in a small bowl and placed on the table for your guests to add more sauce if they would like to do so.
- Garnish with fresh cut chives; serve immediately.
Whitney says
I love grilled potatoes, but I never thought to skewer them before. Fabulous idea, totally doing this soon!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thanks, Whitney. 🙂 Skewers are everything to me right now.
Brian Jones says
Is it wrong that I read Jarred Pesto as Jared Pesto and wondered if this is the latest Hollywood superstar whose movies I have seen none of but is favoured for an Oscar next March?
Love the sound of these and it sounds like a perfect BBQ side and I have some fingerling potatoes that I reckon will work perfectly, I’ve been grilling them up after par boiling since they have been ready to harvest and they are superb. But sticking them on a skewer and adding pesto sounds amazing!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Hahaha – could be – who knows any more? I’m sure those fingerlings would be divine!
Whitney says
What a genius idea to skewer your potatoes. These would be great to cook for a dinner party.. they look SO perfect. Bookmarking!!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Thanks, Whitney. 🙂
Mary says
I like basil pesto, but now I need to hunt down a jar of that sun dried tomato pesto you mention…
The skewers look wonderful, and I bet the leftovers were wonderful with eggs!
byronethomas@gmail.com says
Mary, there’s no need to hunt down a jar of it; I have a recipe for homemade Sun Dried Tomato Pesto right here on my blog! 🙂
Mary says
That’s even better! And why do I feel like I read it at some point, pinned it, and then spaced?
byronethomas@gmail.com says
I think we all experience that from time to time. 🙂