Ingredients
1.2kg potatoes, peeled and cut into 6cm chunks
100gm baby spinach leaves, destalked and roughly chopped
300ml cream
50gm butter
50gm continental parsley, destalked and finely chopped
1tsp dried thyme
40gm feta, crumbled
1 green onion, finely sliced, white and green
Salt and pepper
Milk, as needed
Method
1. Boil potatoes in a large pot until well cooked, 15-20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, warm spinach over low heat in a frying pan until it’s barely wilted. Set aside.
3. When potatoes are cooked, drain in a colander and return to still warm pot to dry out a little.
4. Add butter and cream and mash until a smooth consistency.
5. Stir through the spinach, parsley and thyme.
6. Over a low heat, stir through the feta and green onion.
7. Season to taste.
8. If the mash becomes too firm, stir through a little milk to regain smoothness.
9. Serve as accompaniment, with or without other vegetables.
Serves four
Notes
I use unbrushed new potatoes (because they’re the cheapest).
Destalking the spinach and parsley is a pain but makes the end result smoother and fancier.
I find returning the drained potatoes to the warm pot gets rid of excess water.
I get the best results with a masher, not a fork and not a blender.
I prefer to stir the greens through quite lightly to get a streaked effect but you could stir it through very thoroughly to get a completely green mash.
After adding the greens, I find the mash has cooled somewhat, so I put it on a low heat.
Season after adding the feta as the cheese is usually pretty salty.
The mash can be made “healthier” by using low fat cream, butter and cheese – your choice. You could also use olive oil instead of butter and/or leave out the feta.
This is a good accompaniment to sausages, cutlets, meatballs, grilled fish or roast chicken, as pictured.
If it’s for a main meal, I add some sweeter vegetables for contrast, such as the carrots and corn pictured.
Refrigerate any leftover mash and fry it to a brown crust the next day for a great snack.