This Lettuce, Potato, Bacon and Apple Mash is a one pot dish, based on a traditional Dutch dish, called stamppot. It is primarily a dish for the colder months, that is made from mashed potatoes with cooked vegetables and fruit and served with gravy. My combination has raw lettuce and apple, chunky potatoes and crispy bacon. It’s the apple and raw lettuce that gives the dish a welcome freshness, lightness, unlike the traditional, that are usually heavy.
Most Dutch stamppots use ‘fall and winter vegetables’, because that’s when the colder weather comes to town. The traditional combinations are mashed potatoes with kale and sausage; carrot, onions and brisket; sauerkraut and sausage; red cabbage; string beans. All of them were and most likely still are served with gravy.
What we used to do as kids is to make a little hole in the center of your ‘mash’ and fill it with gravy. My mother was very good at making delicious gravy, especially when she made meatballs. So from this small ‘lake’ of gravy we made ‘rivers’ leading into your ‘mash’. Then we ate around the edges of the gravy as that’s where the dish soaks up the gravy and is most delicious. Of course it means that we had to fill up the center regularly, especially when our parents weren’t looking. Not overly healthy maybe, but guess what, when you’re kids, and your mother is the queen in making gravy, you enjoy gravy. 🙂 🙂 🙂
This is what you need to do to make Lettuce Potato Bacon and Apple Mash.
Boil potatoes, as if you make mashed potatoes, but when they’re done, don’t create this velvety concoction, but only use a potato masher and leave the potatoes chunky. Add a little bit of milk, and no butter. Cut the lettuce, that you washed and mix it with the potatoes. Peel and dice an apple and cut the bacon in cubes and bake crunchy. Mix all of this with the potatoes, incl. the bacon fat. The bacon fat replaces the butter in the mashed potatoes. Warm it up a little bit, but not too long, because the lettuce will wilt and is no longer raw and a whole lot less flavorful. Don’t forget to add salt and pepper.
I used red leaf lettuce, but any type of lettuce will do, it depends on the color and flavor you want and what is available to you. For potatoes I used Yukon Gold and my apple was a Granny Smith, because is doesn’t mush easily and stays crispy. Normal bacon, but of course pancetta is great as well.
If you like, boil an egg, dice it and sprinkle it on top of the Lettuce, Potato, Bacon and Apple Mash. You will see and taste, that a traditional Dutch dish with a modern twist is worth a try.
Lettuce Potato Bacon and Apple Mash
Ingredients
- 8 ounces lettuce red leaf, green leaf, iceberg, endive
- 1 pound potatoes Yukon Gold
- 1/4 cup milk warm
- 1 whoe apple Granny Smith
- 4 ounces bacon or pancetta
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Wash the lettuce, and cut it in thin strips. Drain in colander.
- Boil water with salt and cook potatoes until done.
- Cut bacon in small cubes and bake until crispy.
- Boil an egg until yolk is hard (10-15 minutes), depending on size. Allow to cool and cut in small dice.
- Peel and dice the apple.
- When the potatoes are done, mash them coarsely. Add the warm milk and mix.
- Squeeze all the water from the lettuce and add it to the potatoes.
- Pour the bacon and bacon fat over the lettuce and mix.
- Add the apple and mix well.
- Warm Lettuce, Potato, Bacon and Apple Mash just a little.
- Divide over 2 plates and sprinkle with boiled egg, if you like
No Comments