Mediterranean Mashed Potatoes
Mediterranean Mashed Potatoes
You can’t forget mashed potatoes when you are hosting Thanksgiving. It’s affordable, easy-to-make, and a total crowd-pleaser. Many mashed potato recipes ask for lots of dairy products to flavor. Sticks of butter! Heavy cream! Warm milk! Sure, they make the potatoes taste great and luxurious, but it can be too heavy.
My take on traditional mashed potatoes, I substituted all the dairy for LABNEH. Mixing some starchy water with labneh, and adding fresh thyme, lemon, and black pepper, makes the mashed super flavorful and creamy Making roasted garlic is another secret weapon for this recipe. Easy to make, but adds a ton of flavors, and you can serve it along with the rest of your dishes. When garlic gets roasted, the flavors get more complex, making these mashed potatoes truly unique.
Total Time: 20 minutes
Makes: 6-8 servings
INGREDIENTS
2-3 lbs of Yukon potatoes, washed, cut up into chunks
10-12 fresh thyme sprigs
1 whole garlic
½ cup labneh
¼ cup starchy water from boiling potatoes
1 lemon, juiced and zested
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Cut 1/2 inch off from the top of garlic clove, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Place the garlic clove on a large piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil and wrap the clove. Roast for 35-30 minutes until the garlic cloves are caramelized and tender.
Meanwhile, in a large pot, cover potatoes cubes with water and add a generous handful of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until soft, 16-18 minutes. Reserve about 1/2 cup of starchy water, and drain the rest of the water.
Thin out labneh by adding starchy potato water until it becomes a similar consistency of yogurt.
Transfer cooked potatoes into a big bowl and mash them using a potato masher, adding fresh thyme, roasted garlic, thinned labneh, and lemon juice and zest. Mix everything together until potatoes are smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Garnish with extra virgin olive oil, thyme and freshly ground black pepper.