Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Got Any Leftover Mashed Potatoes?


If you have a vat of leftover mashed potatoes in your refrigerator, there are lots of things you can do with them, including this.

All I did here was mold the cold mashed potato into a round cake, brushed it with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled it with some oregano and baked it in the oven at 225 C for 10 minutes. At this point, I took it out and put a very thin slice of tomato and some emmental cheese on it, then baked it for another 7 minutes or so.

If you have sprigs of fresh oregano, garnish them with these and they can either be a starter or served on the side with some roast.

If you really want to get fancy with this humble leftover, I'd make a variety of potato cakes seasoned with different kinds of herbs (dried) and all garnished with a fresh sprig of each type of herb. Imagine what this would look like served on a tray at a party.

You can also change the topping. It doesn't have to be a thin slice of tomato. Maybe it could be a thin slice of grilled zucchini. What about braised leeks? The cheese could be goats cheese, Camembert cheese, Brie cheese, Manchego cheese, Cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese....use whatever you fancy...or whatever you happen to have lying around at the time.

Note: If you wish to make these from a fresh batch of mashed potatoes, you need to cool them overnight so that they can easily be molded. Of course by then they won't be fresh - but you get the picture.

14 comments:

Dorte said...

This sounds like a very good idea!

By the way, I made green beans the other day as described in your post about the potato and bean salad - Beans with the soy sauce, sugar and sesame seeds. It was really good - thanks :-)

♥peachkins♥ said...

this is a great idea!and the potato will be extra delicious too with the cheese and herb.

Dewi said...

What a delicious idea of left over mashed potato!

Ilva said...

Geniale to say it in Italian!

taste traveller said...

Oh this is so clever! I'm thinking of croquettes too & other ways to use them up - I'm also thinking of all the wasted mashed potatoes I've ever had! ;-)

Marta said...

What a cute potato-puff thing! You're right, it's a cute little wayto use up mashe potatoes!
Hey, I wanted to ask you some questions about Japan. I couldn't find your email address, so I'll ask you here... this may be a massive comment!
OK, so I'll be visiting the following cities: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, Nikko,Sapporo, Kakunodate, Matsushima, Takayama, Kurasiki, Matsuyama, Usuki, Noboribetsu.
What do you think about that? Do you think I'm missing a must-see attraction? Do you think there's any city I could do without? What are your favourite things that you'd recommend?
If you want, just email me back at justcallmemarta@gmail.com, so I don't clogg your comments with trip-planning!
Thank you soooo much!!! I appreciate any help you may be able to give me!!!!!

NKP said...

Great way to use up leftover mashies! Yum.

Lori said...

I love mashed potatoe leftovers. There are a lot of things you can do with them. I am hopefully going to be making some parathas with a batch that is in my fridge right now. Great minds think alike.

Trish said...

very cool indeed.

Trish said...

Thanks for the compliment. Hey...I am going to sound silly but....what is Paper Chef?

Murasaki Shikibu said...

Paper Chef is a monthly food blog event where participants have to make something yummy with 4 fixed ingredients. :)

Karine said...

It looks to be a great idea to use leftovers mashed potatoes!

Justin said...

i WISH i had leftover mashed potatoes sometimes... they never last in my house

Justin said...

oh, by the way, I was going to email you a photo of a restaurant I saw in San Francisco called Murasaki, but I can't find any email address on your blog. If you want to see it, email me at justin@justinschwartz.com.