watercress, pea and feta potato cakes

These watercress, pea and feta potato cakes are so amazingly simple and quick to make yet they taste phenomenal and have that rustic look about them that remind me of warm nights by the sea on a Greek island.  I’m not entirely sure why because I’ve never eaten them there but there’s something about the rich peppery taste of the watercress mixed with the creamy feta and sweet peas that take me back!

The watercress is superb and come direct from the brilliant folk at Love Watercress. We don’t eat enough of the stuff which is quite ridiculous because there is literally a watercress farm down the road from me here in Belleau.  It’s so good for you, packed with all the good stuff such as antioxidants (which is fabulous for ageing skin.) Per gram there’s also more Vit C than an orange which can’t be bad right?

• 1 large salad onion (or 3 or 4 spring onions) – chopped
• 100g frozen peas
• 1 clove of garlic – grated or crushed
• 150g bunch of watercress – chopped
• 250g frozen mash – I use the brilliant Sainsbury’s stuff.  It’s so handy but feel free to make yours from scratch
• 2 large free-range eggs – beaten
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• 50g feta – crumbled
• a generous handful of fresh basil – roughly chopped
• plenty of butter, salt and pepper and olive oil

for the watercress and basil mayo

• 2 tablespoons greek yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• the juice of half a lemon
• a slug of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• a handful of watercress
• a handful of basil

Heat a pan on medium and melt a large nob of butter with a few drops of olive oil. Sauté the onions for a few minutes until soft and then stir in the garlic and peas.  Let them sweat together for a few more minutes before adding the chopped watercress.

Let the whole pan gently sauté as the watercress wilts.  Take it off the heat and set aside until cool.

Meanwhile if your using frozen mash, defrost as per the instructions and set aside till cool.

Place the mash along with the salted veg into a large bowl and add all the other ingredients and fork together. Place the bowl in the fridge for at least an hour or until you want to use them.

At this point you can shape them into patties and freeze them or fry them straight away.  I use a generous amount of butter and olive oil and sauté them on both sides until golden and crisp.

To make the watercress and basil mayo literally bung everything into a food processor or nutribullet and blend till smooth,

I have plenty of watercress recipes on my blog… so go search!

Eat and of course, enjoy!