New potatoes tend to be eaten steamed with butter in Britain. This is indeed one of life’s joys and, if you stick to seasonal vegetables as I try to, they signal the welcome end of winter.

However, there are plenty of other things you can do with new potatoes and it’s worth trying these out.

Further south in Europe, flavoured olive oil tends to be preferred over butter. In this recipe, the flavoured oil is used to cook the potatoes which contain about twice as much Vitamin C as do old potatoes. Some of this will be lost if you boil them, less if you steam or roast.

Most importantly, roast new potatoes are very, very good to eat. You can use feta, or any crumbly white cheese such as Lancashire, in place of the goat’s cheese.

I serve this with a green salad. I think it stands alone, but as a side dish it goes great with an omelette.

Ingredients

• 650g/1-1/2 lb. medium new potatoes
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh thyme, or a tsp of dried
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tbsp white wine or cider vinegar, with a clove of crushed or grated garlic stirred into it
• Salt

What to do

1. First, stir the garlic into the vinegar and allow to stand while you cook the potatoes.
2. Steam the potatoes whole for 10 minutes. During this time, preheat the oven to 425°F/225°C/mark 7.
3. When they’ve finished steaming, set the potatoes in an oven-proof bowl.
4. Mix oil, fresh or dried thyme and paprika, plus salt to taste, then pour this over the potatoes.
5. Make sure they are well coated, then roast them in the oven for 30 minutes.
6. Check they’re cooked by inserting a skewer or knitting needle. If it passes easily through, they’re ready. If not, give them another five or 10 minutes.
7. Pour on the vinegar and garlic straight away but leave to stand for five minutes before you add the cheese, so that it doesn’t simply melt all over them immediately.