We all love a spud — roasted, boiled, mashed, deep fried! Or for something different added to stews, in baking, and to make gnocchi, colcannon and creamy soups. Potatoes are so versatile and as much as we love them, potatoes still make it in the top 10 foods wasted by households.
Maybe they’ve started sprouting in the pantry or started to get soft, they are still safe to eat, just remove the sprouted areas. To make potatoes last longer, store them in a cool, dry and dark place like a cupboard or fridge if you have room in the vegetable drawer — but keep them away from onions as they help each other sprout faster.
Just can’t finish the chips with the fish or burgers? Freeze them and reheat it in the oven later, they still taste just as good and are even crispier! Or to bulk it up and make a meal try making a leftover chip pie, loaded fries or a poutine. Leftover roasted or boiled potatoes are great, add them into stews soups or make frittatas.
How about leftover mashed potatoes? They’re exactly what you need to make deliciously moist scones, bread, and also perfect to make a mashed potato roulade, or for a sweet version use it to make Sally Lunn.
You can also mash leftover boiled potatoes to make any of these or crisp them up by making these easy smashed potatoes. We love that it’s both fluffy on the inside and crisp on the outside so if you can’t decide if you want a mash or crispy potatoes, this is the perfect dish!
Want to try something different? Try making potato pancakes from around the world like Jewish style latkes and Korean style gamjajeon. Or slice up the potatoes to make your version of an aloo pakora, an Indian style potato fritter.
And a note on potatoes turning green, some green on your potatoes is OK, you just need to cut off the green areas, unless they are really bad then you should discard them. The green can indicate natural toxins that may not be destroyed in cooking.
Happy cooking with potatoes!
For more
- For more ideas and tips for other produce visit www.lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz and if you’re on Facebook or Instagram, check out what we’re doing @lovefoodhatewastenz.
Easy smashed potatoes
Ingredients
1kg potatoes
Salt
4 Tbsp olive oil, divided
Black pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp chopped fresh green herbs (optional)
Method
Scrub the potatoes clean. Cut off any parts where the potato has begun to sprout.
Place the potatoes in a pot and fill with water until just covered. Add a generous pinch of salt and cover the pot with a lid.
Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the potatoes are soft (about 20 minutes).
While the potatoes cook, preheat the oven to 180degC fan bake and drizzle or brush 1 Tbsp of the olive oil over a large baking tray or roasting pan.
When the potatoes are cooked, drain them in a large colander.
Flatten the cooked potatoes using the back of a fork or a potato masher and arrange in a single layer on the lined baking tray. The thinner they are, the crispier they’ll be.
Drizzle the remaining 3 Tbsp of olive oil over the smashed potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve on its own as a snack or side with the main meal, and serve with your favourite sauce if desired.
Cooking tips
- Make this with any quantity of potatoes you have or to suit the number of people to serve.
- You can also make these with leftover boiled potatoes.
- To speed up the boiling time, boil the water in an electric kettle before pouring over the potatoes.
- If you are short on time for baking, you can pan fry the smashed potatoes with a little bit of oil.
- This recipe works well with any potato variety.
- Try out other flavour combinations. Swap the olive oil for butter and crushed garlic, bake for 10 minutes then sprinkle with parmesan and bake for another 10 minutes. Add lemon zest before serving. Or pan fry with garlic or herb butter.
