I can’t say enough about recipe ideas that are easy, fast, foolproof, inexpensive and ultra-versatile! Today we present another one that embodies a whole flock of food-forward concepts: Loaded, ‘swicy’, adaptable smashed potatoes!
I took one look and fell in love. So focused have I been on the concept of smashed burgers, I’ve ne-glected the broader menagerie of items – especially veggies – than can be ‘smashed’…
A natural side – or main!
This concept is so versatile, it can be adapted as a side, a snack or a main! What’s more, there’s no-thing in the prep you haven’t done before. And the ingredients list can be as simple or complex as you wish.
It all starts with ‘baby new potatoes’. Okay. I know – And I’ve been the one to bust this myth for many faithful readers! There’s no such thing as ‘baby’ potatoes. They’re just way-small spuds which get screened out of the harvest as a whole because their customers farther up the food supply chain want as consistent a product as the producers and wholesalers can possibly ship. And the fact that they’re available year-round also suggests they’re often not as ‘new’ as you might expect…
Nevertheless…
But they’re just the right size to brush with oil or butter and a pinch of salt, and sheet-bake in your oven at the usual 375 F until just fork tender all the way through. And ‘smashed’ by pressing them with the base of a highball glass or a flat-bottomed wine bottle.
Smashed to no less than 1 cm / 3/8 in. thick, let them cool to room temperature. While they’re doing that, whip up a sauté pan of beautifully caramelized slivered onions. Use Natalie’s method, to get exceptional results with minimal effort and lowest possible risk of screwing-up.
Spoon a generous gob of the onions onto each smashed potato. Then top them them with a nice thick 1/2 cm / 3/16 in. slab of Guyere (Swiss), Edam or other semi-hard, nutty-nuanced melting cheese. Finish each loaded spud with a judicious pinch of fresh-ground nutmeg.
Place the pan back in the oven at 400 F for a few minutes; just long enough to melt the cheese…
Tips…
The source recipe for this dish wants you to par-boil the spuds before smashing. I think it would be a crying shame to do that – rather than pan-baking them as I’ve outlined. You can put so much more great flavour into them by baking – especially with the skins left on!
Add a dash of fresh ground black pepper right on top of the onions if you generally use pepper on your onion soup.
Be sure to leave the skins on the potatoes. If you peel them, you’ll be throwing away a lot of their nutritional goodness, and a major portion of their umami flavour! There’s a special flavour balance achieved when the potato skins stand up just enough to the onions’ earthiness…
Consider other toppings – even crowning glories that suggest, or pay homage to other dishes which bear little or no resemblance to French Onion Soup. Let your imagination run wild!
Remember: this dish can be either veggie or omnivorous – with the addition of shredded, leftover meat. But still use the onions in such versions – just on top of the meat, and under the cheese.
Think about slicing larger (regular sized) potatoes 2 cm / 3/4 in. thick, either across the waist or length-wise, and smashing them to a similar thickness as you the whole ‘babies’ after they’re pan-roasted. Perfect for ultra-loaded ‘main course’ Smashed Spuds!
My take
Depending on how you dress them, these Smashed Spuds can be oh, so healthy, or oh, so decadent! Your choice, entirely. But as such they’ll sparkle up any gathering – or add a special warm, umami-infused dimension to your own late-night Netflix binge-watching marathon.
And they’re so easy, you can make them anytime, with whatever you have on hand…
~ Maggie J.