Recipe: Smashed Potato Casserole (2024)

FAQs

Why are my smashed potatoes falling apart? ›

Smashed potatoes will fall apart if they are overcooked or if you try to mash them while they are still hot. Long story short - cook the potatoes until al dente (slightly firm). Don't overcook the potatoes! Last - cool the potatoes completely before smashing them.

Gordon Ramsay's Smashed Potatoes are made with baby potatoes, olive oil, herbs like rosemary or thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper this dish serves 8 and takes about 1 hour, including boiling and roasting for a crispy exterior.

Make a cornstarch slurry for a fast and easy thickener.

Use one tablespoon of cornstarch per cup of liquid you would like to thicken. Stir out all the lumps. A few minutes before your casserole is done, add it a little at a time until you are happy with the thickness. Then, let the casserole finish baking.

Option 1: Turn up the heat on your stovetop to draw out the moisture. Option 2: Add a teaspoon of a thickening agent like cornstarch, flour or powdered milk until you reach the desired thickness. Option 3: Mix in 1 tablespoon of dehydrated potatoes until mashed potatoes are thicker.

When breaking down the potatoes, it's important to take care not to "overwork" them. Violently breaking them down causes more starch to be released, which leads to stickier, pastier potatoes.

People seem to really like mashed potatoes, so they eat a bit more. I generally allow one baking-sized potato per person, plus one extra, just in case. I bake them in their skins and then scoop them out to mash them.

It marries the hydrophilic with the hydrophobic, creating a smoother mash while adding a tiny bit of sweetness and tang. Mayo mashed potatoes do not taste like mayo (unless you add too much). Similarly, egg yolk mashed potatoes do not taste like egg yolks, though they certainly are yellow. They don't taste creamy.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

A potato ricer is widely regarded as the best tool for mashed potatoes that are smooth and fluffy. Built like a big garlic press, it works by pushing cooked potatoes (one or two at a time) through a perforated grate, creating stringy, broken-down potato bits without releasing a ton of starch.

First of all, the original reason restaurants did this was to dress up the lowly potato and to hide any defects or bruises. So gold and aluminum foil sheets were painstakingly used to punish dishwashers and cooks who had some extra time on their hands… just my theory. First reason… the potato is around 80% water.

How to tell if casserole is done? ›

Poking a casserole with a toothpick or a fork to see if it comes out clean is a helpful way to know what's happening in the center. Shaking the pan will also tell you if everything is cooked and set.

Prep Vegetables Ahead Of Time

That's because vegetables naturally contain a lot of water in their raw form. When cooked, water leaches out, transforming your rich, gooey casserole into a liquidy slop. That doesn't mean you have to ditch your beloved veggies, though.

Use as a Thickening Agent

Here's how it works: when cornstarch is added to a recipe, the starch molecules work to absorb water and thicken the mixture. When heated, those molecules swell and consume even more of the liquid in the recipe.

If your potatoes have been growing in very dry soil, the potatoes themselves will have a fairly low moisture content when harvested. What this then means is that when the potatoes are build they absorb more water and fall to pieces quite quickly.

To further prevent potatoes from falling apart, try using waxy potato varieties like red potatoes or Yukon Gold. These types tend to hold their shape better when boiled. Additionally, avoiding overcooking and handling them gently when straining will help maintain their integrity.

If potatoes are produced during a very dry growing season, they will tend to have a higher than normal solid content and less moisture. When these are cooked, they absorb more water than usual and, as a result, fall apart at the end of cooking.

If you skimp on the butter and cream, the side dish will suffer as a result, turning out unappealingly dry. If this occurs, the outlet recommends correcting course with more fat: Adding more liquid in the form of melted butter, extra-virgin olive oil, cream, or full-fat milk.