You’ve heard me mention my parmesan mash many times on this blog, about how great it is, best mash ever bla bla bla….. well I think I might have just found one that might be just as good if not better. I served it with my Italian stew and oh my lord was it good!! I had seen the recipe in the Silver Spoon a while back but it called for the use of a potato ricer so that put me off straight away. I don’t know why, but we just “don’t do” potato ricers here in Ireland, we prefer the old reliable masher. I know I always percieve it as extra work so normally shy away from it but I have seen the light my friends and will never go back. The thing is I bought one in Tk Maxx last year for €10 and it has been lying at the bottom of the drawer since, I couldn’t even get the price tag off it had been there so long!
So what’s so great about this potato ricer I hear you ask? OK, so you know when you order mash in a restaurant and it’s so light, smooth, soft, creamy, lump free and you say to yourself “why can’t I get my mash like that?”, well now you have the answer. It is a combination of the potato ricer and then passing the potato through a sieve at the end which I didn’t do because I again considered it to be too much work so next time I’ll do this and it really will be the ultimate mash - change takes time and baby steps:)
what you need for nearly perfect mashed potato:
675g potatoes
50g butter softened
100ml milk
100g mascarpone cheese
120ml single cream
6 fresh chives chopped
salt and pepper
what to do:
peel and chop your potatoes and place in a pot of salted cold water, bring to the boil, cook until tender and drain:
pass your potatoes through a potato ricer into a bowl:
beat your cream and mascarpone together, heat the milk to just below simmering point and add to your potatoes:
add the mascarpone mix and butter to your potatoes:
mix well, season with salt and pepper, press the mixture through a sieve if you really want to impress( the princess wasn’t fussed), sprinkle with the chives and serve:
buon appetito!
Love the mash.. Going to use it for our next wedding if you dont mind. Very tasty will drive the guest wild. Just what i was looking for.
You can’t go wrong with mash now can you? The perfect comfort food.
That looks so good I got to buy one of those one!
That is some seriously good looking mash! And you’re right about us not doing potato ricers here is Ireland. I don’t own one, but I think I’m gonna have to get one
No problem Paul, hope they enjoy it! the mascarpone is a really nice addition.
KG – you really can’t, I love leftover mash with fried eggs, perfect comfort food!
noodlegirl – do and use it, you’ll never look back:)
dp – Tk Maxx all the way:)
just so lovely looking……..our ricer at work requires the use of two men to make it work……not easy in a kitchen full of idiots and wee lads…….
This looks great, I’m always happy to see another recipe that uses a potato ricer.
Savage, just savage. I over-seasoned it ever so slightly, should have used unsalted butter.
Also, I tried it pre-sieve and post-sieve. It makes a world of difference! Restaurant quality consistency if I do say so myself!
manuel – lol:) it requires a bit of muscle alright…
potato ricer – welcome, all hail the potato ricer:)
colm – glad to hear it turned out so well, next time I’m def using the sieve. It’s so creamy isn’t it, the mascarpone is such a good addition…
Why has it taken me this long to realise what I was doing wrong. That is just fantastic, I’m so excited to go and find one of these “Ricer’s”. I’ll be the size of a whale but at least I’ll enjoy it!
Looks so yummy. Pictures are great too.
Laura
hell yeah, you can’t beat mashed potato!!!
Thank you twice – 1 for the compliments, 2 because you are the first person that left a message on my new (10 days old) blog!
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Ciao Laura
I’ve come aross your blog and wow it’s great – well done you!. This is good timing cause last night was the first time in 5 months that my nearly-2-year-old ate her mash. She loves her pasta and something happened last night that got her eating mash again … could have been the melting butter on top
And now Kitchen Compliments are selling ricers. Woohoo!
rach – you said it:)
Laura – o wow I didn’t realise it was that short, it’s really nice anyway and I for one will be a regular reader. I’ll add a link in my next post:)
somesaycocoa – my lo went through the same thing, she used to love mash and then went off it for about 6 months but she’s back on it again, they make fools of us don’t they:) Great to see another Irish blog and all about chocolate even better! Will add a link:) There’s a few new Irish blogs I’ve found recently!
Okay so I have a hideous confession – I whisk my mashed potato with a hand blender. But I must confess if you overwhisk you get a big glutinous bowl of potatoey goo, so I’m deffo heading to TK for one of those
EM – nothing hideous about it at all,very clever actually and a lot quicker! We do it in the shop when making Shephard’s Pie …..ssshhhhh
Spray labels that stick (as on your masher) with a bit of WD-40 and they come off easily
Great presentation! Love those herbs and that bowl.
Good stuff.
Thanks Joe, glad you like it:)
Great recipe Lors!
We made this tonight and it was amazing! Another great way to make mash that I will add to my repertoire.
The mascarpone is definately the secret ingredient here!
Great article!
Mash is best with butter, but there are plenty of great soya alternatives for cream and butter out there! I think anyone who has a food mill or “mouli” can also use either one to the same effect as a potato ricer.