I'm not huge on mashed potatoes, so if I want to serve a side that has a similar texture and feel, I generally go with a squash, pumpkin, or sweet potato. I excitedly bought an acorn squash last week to make a mash. I boiled water and while it was heating up, sliced the squash in half and removing the guts and seeds. Once the water was bubbling, I put both halves of the squash in and let it boil for 10 minutes. Once the squash was soft, I put it in a mixing bowl (use tongs to move the squash - it holds water and is VERY hot!). Once I got into the process, I realized I didn't have as much "bulk" as I wanted to have, so I was happy to see that I had a sweet potato in my kitchen, just waiting to be involved. So, I softened the sweet potato in the microwave (high, 4 minutes) and added that to the mash, too, also skin-on.
With the squash and sweet both in the mixing bowl, I added salt, butter, cinnamon, honey, a little garlic powder, and in an impulsive move, some French vanilla half-and-half. I know, it's over the top, but it was super tasty. Then, I just mashed it all together until it had a thick whipped quality. (See ingredients below.)
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| Acorn squash & sweet potato mash |
What I got was a savory and sweet mash, with skin-on flavor and texture. It was salty, sweet, and creamy, and went well with other dishes. It's fitting for steak or chicken, but also could be used as a pasta stuffing (think: ravioli) or even in a pie.
What you'll need:
Squash of choice
Sweet potatoes
Salt
Butter (I recommend Kerrygold, an Irish butter, or Smjor, an Icelandic variety)
Half-and-half
cinnamon
honey
a pinch of garlic
this was D - lish!
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