Spinach Mashed Potatoes Recipe, Green For St. Patrick’s Day

March 11, 2023 at 11:56 am · Filed under Recipes, St. Patrick's Day, Vegetables-Salads-Herbs

This bright green spinach mashed potatoes recipe adds flavor and color to the table year-round but is especially delightful on St. Patrick’s Day.

From Idaho Potatoes, it’s actually smashed potatoes (with the skins on), that include a little something extra: sunchokes (photo #3).

The recipe was developed by Monica Kass Rogers of Lost Recipes Found for Idaho Potatoes.

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RECIPE: SPINACH MASHED POTATOES

You can save time by using frozen spinach, thawed, with the water squeezed out and purée.

Ingredients For 4 To 6 Servings

2 pounds Idaho® potatoes, washed but unpeeled

1 head garlic

½ pound sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes), cleaned*

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

1½ cups heavy cream, divided into ½ cup measure and 1 cup measure portions

4 tablespoons butter

3 cups packed baby spinach

Ice water bath for blanched baby spinach

Additional salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. COOK the potatoes: Place 2 pounds of cleaned, unpeeled, Idaho potatoes in cold water. Heat the water to just below boiling. The water will be steaming but not moving. Cook the potatoes in steaming water until fork tender: about 1½ hours. While potatoes are cooking on the stovetop…

2. HEAT the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle. Toss the sunchokes in olive oil with salt and pepper. Place them on a sheet pan and roast until soft, 40-45 minutes. Place the head of garlic in a square of aluminum foil and roast it in the oven next to sunchokes, until soft. Remove the garlic from the oven, squeeze the cloves from the skins, and set aside.

3. TURN the oven down to 325°F. Remove the unchokes and purée with 1/2 cup cream, using an immersion blender or food processor. Set aside.

4. REMOVE the potatoes from the water when fork tender. Place in the 325°F oven to dry the potato skins. While the potatoes are in the oven…

5. HEAT a second pot of water to boiling for blanching the spinach. While waiting for the spinach water to boil…

6. MELT the butter with the remaining cup of cream in a small saucepan until hot. Set aside.

7. BLANCH the spinach in boiling water for two minutes. Using a strainer, remove the spinach from the water and plunge it into ice water. Squeeze out the water. Purée the spinach using a food processor or an immersion blender. Set aside.

8. REMOVE the potatoes from the oven. Leave the skins on. In a large pot, smash the potatoes with a potato masher. Add small amounts of the hot cream/butter mixture as you go until the potatoes are fluffy. Add the garlic and sunchoke puree and smash some more. Fold in puréed spinach. Adjust seasoning adding salt and pepper to taste.

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*If you can’t find sunchokes, substitute Yukon Gold potatoes.