RUSSIAN SALAD

Ensaladilla rusa is a great starter and the star of the show whenever we make it at home. I’ve never met a Spanish person who doesn’t love it; in fact, everyone loves this salad. It tastes ten times better the next day, chilled, making it good for preparing ahead. I could eat it straight from the fridge.

Try to get small potatoes that are as similar in size as possible: you want them to cook quickly without becoming floury. Cooking them in their skins also stops them turning mushy.

It’s important that the potatoes and carrots are still warm when you mix them with the other ingredients, as this helps them to better absorb the flavour of everything.

This is a recipe that makes the most of store-cupboard ingredients: white asparagus and piquillo peppers should be from a jar, as should, dare I say it, the mayonnaise.

FOR 4–6

500g baby potatoes, unpeeled

2 medium-sized carrots, unpeeled

2 eggs

1 Little Gem lettuce, julienned

250g good-quality tinned tuna or bonito in olive oil

300ml mayonnaise, homemade or shop-bought

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

To finish

4 tinned white asparagus spears, cut in half

3 piquillo peppers, cut into strips

12 green olives, sliced in half

Put the potatoes into a large pan of cold salted water. Put the pan on a medium heat and bring to the boil – when bubbling, add the carrots and eggs. Remove the eggs after 10 minutes. How long you cook the carrots and potatoes will depend on what size they are – it may be that the potatoes are ready first if they are very small. What you are looking for is for them both to be nice and soft – pierce with a toothpick if you want to check.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the vegetables to a colander to drain. Leave them to cool enough to handle, then peel off the skin with a small knife when they are still warm.

Cut everything into 2cm cubes – potatoes, carrots, eggs – and put them into a large bowl with the Little Gem. Spoon the tuna and its oil into the bowl. Add the mayonnaise, salt and pepper and parsley and mix together.

Spoon on to your serving dish – you want it to be almost cake-like. Then dress the salad with the white asparagus, piquillo peppers and olives.