potato Archives - Sugar et al

I don’t have a Thanksgiving but that has never stopped me from being a part of the celebrations. The events leading up to Christmas have brought me joy since I was in school. Even as a little girl my eyes would light up when I saw the trees on display, the tinsel, glittery ornaments, the fairy lights and the Christmas sales. At school we learnt about the different traditions and I embraced them with wide open arms. When I came to live in Australia I thought I might like to live inside the shops during Christmas. Having a food blog makes it a bonus for me. It allows for the planning and preparations to begin well in advance. And I am so up for it.

Would you believe me if I told you that it took me less than 15 minutes to put this together? I have cheated a bit on this tart…okay more than a bit to simply things. Unlike my usual recipes, I have used a few store bought ingredients, put them together and the result is something that can be a centre-piece on the table without spending hours in the kitchen.

There are 3 layers in this tart. A layer of caramelised onion and cranberry chutney, a herbed ricotta layer and the duchess potato on top. To speed up the process, I used a store bought tart case. To get a smooth pipeable potato mash without the effort, I used Instant mash which is basically nothing but dried potato flakes. To make great mashed potatoes at home, I may not use or recommend it but in this tart, it does not matter. To be honest, it makes life easier. You can of course, make your own from scratch if you want to. The caramelised onion and cranberry chutney packs a lot of flavour into the tart. Any home made or store bought chutney would do but I picked up cranberry to make it festive. Caramelised onion chutney or relish is available in most if not all supermarkets in Australia.
After this, we just mix, layer and bake.

Notes: The brand of Instant Mash I used, was already seasoned so I didn’t have to season separately. Most often they don’t need it but please do check on your package. I used a frozen tart shell that was already pre-baked. In case you are making your own pastry, you will need to pre -bake it before following the recipe. If you want more browning on top, put the tart for a few minutes under the broiler of your oven.

Herbed Ricotta, Cranberry Chutney and Duchess Potato Tart
Serves 6-8

1 store bought tart shell (I used frozen)
1 cup Caramelised Onion and Cranberry Chutney
400 g fresh ricotta
2 eggs, lightly whisked
a handful fresh herbs (parsley, mint, thyme, oregano), finely chopped
salt and pepper, to season
2 cups Instant Mash powder, cooked according to package directions
2 tbsp butter (room temparature)
2 egg yolks (reserve a tablespoon for brushing on top later)
Extra chutney, to drizzle on top
Fresh thyme to garnish

Preheat the oven to 170 degreec C.
Spread the Caramelised Onion and Cranberry Chutney on the base of the tart shell. In a medium bowl, mix together the Ricotta, eggs and mixed herbs.Season. Spoon over the chutney and spread evenly.

Add the butter and egg yolks to the Instant mashed potatoes and mix to blend. Fit a piping bag with a large round tip and fill in the mashed potatoes. Do this in two batches for ease of piping. Pipe rounds on top of the ricotta layer to uniformly cover the entire tart. Brush with egg yolks. Sprinkle with fresh thyme.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until potatoes are crisp and browned and ricotta is set in the centre. Remove from oven. Drizzle with chutney. Serve with salad on the side.

I had to make room in my freezer to put in the tubs of ice cream I bought this morning. A big pack of frozen peas prevented the freezer door from closing. So that resulted in a few curried pea stuffed flatbreads and this soup. You might be wondering, on a hot sunny afternoon, wouldn’t it make sense to finish the ice cream than go through the trouble of making and eating a soup. It would. If along the way, I had not pictured myself cutting though layers of ice cream cake covered in pretty swirls of raspberry puree and adorned with juicy fresh berries. We’ll keep the ice cream cake for later.
The flatbreads disappeared leaving no scope for photography. I took a few quick pictures of the soup while nibbling on a flatbread. Nobody complained about a not-so-warm soup anyway.

This soup goes down really well with my children mainly for its colour and the crispy prosciutto on the side. I have figured out a an easier and quicker way of making soups that involve potato. Instant mashed potato flakes. This is pretty much available in any supermarket and saves you the work of boiling and mashing potatoes. It acts as a great thickening agent too. All you do is add it to the pea and stock mixture and you have a thick soup in minutes. I would generally not use it as a substitute for the real potato mash but in soups, you can barely notice the difference.

Prosciutto can be substituted with bacon if that is your preference. Vegetarians can omit it altogether and add croutons instead for a little crunch and replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock. If you do not want to use Instant mashed potatoes, you can use 1 medium potato, peeled and grated.

Pea, Potato and Prosciutto Soup
Serves 4

I onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups frozen peas
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup instant potato mash powder
1 cup water
5-6 slices of proscuitto
salt and cracked pepper to serve
a dollop of sour cream to serve

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and the onion and cook till soft. Add the peas, stock, water and instant mash (or grated potato if you are using one) and stir to mix. Cook till peas become tender and the soup thickens.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the prosciutto and cook for 2-3 minutes each side or until crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel. Set aside to cool.

Transfer the pea mixture to the bowl of a food processor or the jug of a blender. (If you have a stick blender, you can blend it directly in the saucepan). Process or blend until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the soup to a clean saucepan over medium heat and stir until heated through. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup among serving bowls and dollop the sour cream. Break the prosciutto into large pieces and arrange on top of the soup to serve.