It’s not true that nothing good can come of texting someone in the middle of the night. Faith had the initial idea for these Mediterranean mashed potatoes, and several texts with Chris Prosperi later, a recipe was born. The inspiration behind the recipe was simple: It’s Thanksgiving, and since turkey is such a neutral meat, Faith wanted to create a side dish that would add some interest to the plate. What’s more interesting than salty bits of crispy prosciutto in every bite? The toasted pine nuts—totally worth the splurge, by the way—give the potatoes Mediterranean flair. These potatoes are “loaded” in the best possible way. In one version of the recipe, capers were included. We like that idea if the potatoes are served with fish, but we decided to leave them out when making the dish for a holiday meal.
ON-DEMAND: Listen to Faith and the gang talk about how this recipe came together.
Photo: Alex Province
| Servings |
| 8 cups |
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During recipe testing, Chris added a bit of cream, so The Food Schmooze team tried these with and without the cream. That cream, while not especially Mediterranean, gave the potatoes their wonderful texture.
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- 4 pounds red potatoes
- 1 tablespoon coarse ground sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (good quality)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 bunch scallions chopped
- 8 slices prosciutto chopped and crisped in a pan with 1/2 teaspoon oil
- 1 cup toasted pine nuts
- Wash potatoes well and place in a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently for 30-35 minutes or until potatoes are cooked. Strain into a large colander in the sink. Let sit and steam for 2 minutes. Transfer back to pot and mash with a large fork or potato masher. Season with sea salt and pepper. Next drizzle half the olive oil and the cream on to the potatoes and fold in. Repeat with the rest of the oil and mix well. Toss in the scallions, prosciutto, and pine nuts and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
I can’t wait to make this.
Could the 4 pounds of potatoes be split in half and used with cauliflower as well? Trying to lighten up some of the sides as much as possible in our butter filled home.
If you’re asking to sub in half the amount of potatoes with cauliflower, of course you can do that. Lots of lightened mashed potato recipes out there suggest that very swap. I might steam the cauliflower separately from the potatoes, though, and add the potatoes and cauliflower together once they’re both cooked through. The cauliflower will cook faster than the potatoes. P.S. Love that you call it a “butter filled home.” We hear ya!
Do you think this could be made one day ahead?
Sure. Go for it!
Love your show! All of you together are the perfect ingredients for an informative and entertaining show.
I also now can’t wait to get to Chris’ restaurant after tasing his cooking this past Sunday at a dinner (#9).
My first question is – do you peel the potatoes or not? We have all kinds of disagreements on this at home… so is it okay to keep the peels in the potatoes for a holiday gathering?
Second question – thought you had been won over by the lure of the Instant Pot Faith… why not use it for this one?
Well, thank you, Paul. How sweet of you to say. The mashed potatoes we made for the show were indeed peeled. (Personally, I love potato skins, but I know a lot of people don’t, so I would probably peel if serving to a crowd). And, Ha! Faith got her Instant Pot after this show was recorded. She may use it for mashed potatoes now that she has it! Thanks for listening and writing in!