2 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed and wedged (about 4 large potatoes)
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ lemon
Olive-Date Tapenade
4 oz pitted Medjool dates, finely chopped
5 oz black pitted olives, finely chopped
1/2 oz capers, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
Combine the dates and cream sherry in a small saucepan. Bring the sherry to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for about 25-30 minutes until the dates have absorbed most (but not all) of the sherry. Let the mixture cool. In a food processor, blend the cooled date mixture until smooth. In a mixing bowl, combine 3 ounces of the date mixture with the sour cream, salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a mixing bowl, toss the potato wedges with the paprika, salt and pepper. Make sure each wedges is coated with paprika. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is sizzling hot, add the potato wedges (you may need to work in batches; you don’t want to overcrowd the pan). Lower the heat to medium and sear the potatoes until golden brown, a few minutes per side. Transfer the pan to the oven to finish cooking the potatoes, about 10 more minutes. Squeeze the lemon over the potatoes as soon as they come out of the oven.
Combine the dates, olives, capers, lemon juice, lemon zest, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Mix to incorporate.
To Serve
Spread the date sour cream on a plate. Place the potato wedges on the plate and spoon the olive-date tapenade over the top. Alternatively, serve the date sour cream in a bowl with the tapenade on top and potato wedges alongside.
Notes
To lighten this dish up, try Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. You also will have extra date puree. Save this to flavor other dishes or to make the sour cream again. You can freeze it if needed.