What’s your favorite style of mashed potatoes? When making mashed potatoes at home, I’m a fan of skin-on (aka “dirty” mashed potatoes). Partly because I like the texture and partly because I don’t like peeling. But in my case favorite The style of mashed potatoes is definitely fine dining mashed potatoes. You know what I mean. It’s the kind of thing that costs more than your cell phone bill next to poached salmon fillets and white asparagus. It’s the kind of super creamy that makes you stop mid-bite and say, “How the hell do they do that?”
“It’s butter,” the chef explains. Matthew Lyle In his new cookbook, french classics. “A lot of that, too.” Plus, achieving a “really luxurious restaurant-quality mash” requires a few more tricks, such as baking the potatoes rather than boiling them. Here, Matthew shares his recipe for pommes purée.
Pompe Puree
from French Classics: Easy and Haute Dishes to Make at Homewritten by Matthew Lyle
For dry potato mash
6 large potatoes, ideally Maris Piper or Yukon Gold
salt, ideally rock salt
To exit
1 kg (4 cups tightly packed) dried potato mash (see above)
Butter approx. 500g (4 sticks)
Approximately 200ml whole milk (less than 1 cup)
fine sea salt
White pepper, freshly ground
Preheat oven to 180°C fan (350°F for standard ovens, 400°F for convection ovens).
Prick the potatoes with a small knife. This will prevent an explosion in the oven. Place on a baking tray lined with rock salt (you can use any salt, but inexpensive rock salt is best and can be reused the next time you make the mash). Bake for 60 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
Once the potatoes are out of the oven, cut them in half to allow steam to escape. Scoop the flesh of the boiled potatoes from the skin and pass through a colander. potato ricer.
Place the measured amount of dried potato mash in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cut half the weight of butter into small cubes and slowly add to the potatoes, stirring with milk to prevent the butter from splitting. You may not need all the milk. I just use it to get the mash to the consistency I want and to incorporate the butter into it. Add fine salt and ground white pepper to taste.
Optional: Pass the finished mash through a fine sieve. This final step is not 100% necessary, but it guarantees a beautiful mash without any lumps.
Thank you very much, Matthew!
PS: I love potatoes, so more potatoes.
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* 3 strategic starters for dinner parties
* Social anxiety and the power of potato chips
(Photo provided by: Patricia Niven. Excerpt from “French Classics: Easy and Classy Cooking at Home” by Matthew Lyle, now on sale from Bloomsbury Publishing. Copyright © 2025 by Matthew Ryle. All rights reserved. )
Source: Cup of Jo – cupofjo.com
