Potatoes, Richly Repurposed

I had no intention of writing this post because, like you, I am done with Thanksgiving, and with the remains of the feast. Or so I thought. Then, the other day, I found the potatoes. They had been shoved in the back of my fridge. My brother-in-law, who hosted Thanksgiving this year, had densely packed a container with mashed potatoes and sent us home with it, along with turkey and stuffing and all the other goodies. I had forgotten about them–the potatoes (everything else we polished off ages ago).

As it happened, I found the potatoes at precisely the same moment that I was struck with an intense craving for truffles, and I don’t mean the chocolate kind. Lucky for me I don’t get this craving often–I can’t afford to. So did I go out and purchase a beautiful black nugget to shave over my leftover mashed potatoes? Of course not. I did the next best thing–I bought a slim wedge of sottocenere al tartufo, a lovely semi-soft cheese from Italy’s Veneto region that is flecked with luscious bits of black truffle. I shredded the cheese right into the potatoes, along with a generous handful of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, some cubed mozzarella and a bit of seasoning. I whisked it all together with a couple of eggs and baked it. Then, my family and I devoured it, along with lamb sausages from my farmers’ market and a simple green salad dressed with olive oil and vinegar. It’s really unfair to call these potatoes leftovers, so I’ve bestowed on them a more appropriate name: Baked Truffled Mashed Potatoes. Buon Appetito!

Tagged as: baked potatoes, black truffles, cheese, mashed potatoes, potatoes, side dishes, Thanksgiving, truffles