It was only when I began to feed my own babies solids that I realised we were reared on mashed potato. My grandad’s farm supplied us with bucketloads of muddy spuds that were peeled, boiled and mashed with generous amounts of creamy milk and salty butter. It explains a lot.
I was trying to give them mashed avocado, banana, carrot purée and various butternut and courgette concoctions, but they just craved mashed potato, like their mother before them. It’s in their genes. Anything I put on the table that has mashed potato served with it will be eaten with gusto.
Luckily my two little boys eat everything, so it takes a close eye to see when they are really enjoying their food as opposed to simply enjoying it. Silence descends once mash is served. Peace is restored and they sleep better that night.
Sweet potato also makes a gorgeous mash. It’s National Potato Day, and, while I am big fan of our traditional spuds, sweet potatoes have become a staple in my kitchen. This dish is a variation of sausages and mash but uses smoky, paprika- flavoured chorizo instead, and the mash is rippled with puy lentils and baby-spinach leaves. It’s pure comfort food and just what’s needed on a Friday evening after a long week. It’s healthy but indulgent and fills you up nicely.
I love puy lentils and use them a lot in place of minced meat. They’re great in shepherd’s pie, lasagne or moussaka: simply add them to the tomato sauce and ensure there are plenty of herbs, red wine and garlic to ramp up the flavour. I sometimes halve the amount of meat and add lentils.
You can buy organic tinned lentils, but it’s cheaper to buy a bag of dried ones and cook them yourself, then freeze them. Portions can be chipped off easily, and they defrost once they hit a bubbling tomato sauce.
Chorizo is fantastic to have in the fridge. It has a long shelf life, so will happily sit in the wings till its time to save the day. Crumbled on to home-made pizza, added to minestrone soup or simmered in red wine for tapas; it’s really versatile.
For perfect mashed potato I use a potato ricer. Trying to blitz it in a food processor or hand-held blender will only turn it to glue. The starch in potatoes always reacts like this, so use a regular masher or a potato ricer. It will create fluffy mash, but is difficult to clean; it's like a huge garlic crusher. Sweet potato, however, can be blitzed to a smooth purée with a hand-held blender. It's light and creamy all at once and doesn't create the same carbohydrate-fuelled urge to sleep as regular mash does, making it the perfect dish to start the weekend and give a nod to National Potato Day.
potato.ie/national-potato-day
SWEET POTATO MASH WITH SPINACH, LENTILS AND CHORIZO
Serves 4
The five ingredients
- 500g sweet potato, peeled and roughly cubed
- 1/2 -1 tsp smoked paprika
- 200g puy lentils, cooked
- 200g baby spinach leaves
- 180g chorizo, thickly sliced
From the store cupboard
- Butter
- Sea salt
Method
Place the sweet potato in a pan of boiling water and simmer until just cooked. This should take 10-15 minutes.
Heat a heavy-based frying pan and place the chorizo on it; there’s no need to use any oil. Leave to cook for one or two minutes each side, until it begins to crisp and the highly flavoured red oil is released. Set aside.
Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them well and return them to the pan. Add the smoked paprika and a generous tablespoon or so of butter. Mash until creamy and smooth. Taste for seasoning, add extra paprika or salt if you think it needs it. Fold the puy lentils through. Place the spinach in a colander over the sink. Pour boiling water over; it will wilt immediately. Drain the spinach. Fold it through the sweet potato and serve immediately, topped with crispy slices of chorizo and a drizzle of the cooking oil.
Every Thursday we'll tweet and post the five ingredients on irishtimes.com so you can have them ready on Friday. Email givemefive@irishtimes.com with your suggestions for recipes.
