Ode to Stamppot

I'll spare you the details and get down to the nitty-gritty: even though I lived in the Netherlands, I never eat Dutch food. French fries in a cone, yes - but anything else remotely Dutch, I'm not a big fan of. Except one dish that I love giving my own unique twist to: stamppot. Basically a hodgepog mix of mashed potatoes and a green, personally for me it was always too blah and not enough pizzazz needing some fried something to give it texture and serious yum-factor.

So, here it is: my ode to stamppot. For those of you who are purests out there, who like everything just as the natives do it, look away. For those of you who want an easy, one-pot meal, keep reading and get your forks ready!

De Amerikaans Stamppot

1 leek, cleaned and sliced into thin crescents

5 large potatoes, cleaned and scrubbed

large handful of fresh greens of your choice - I used endive in mine, but you can use kale or whatever you have on hand

butter or coconut oil for flavor

(optional) 1 heaping Tbsp nutritional yeast

salt, lots of it!

 

To make it more time efficient, I like to put the potatoes in a pressure cooker to speed up the cooking. I find it usually takes about 20 minutes, which is enough time for me to get the rest of the cooking done.

While potatoes or cooking, heat up some olive oil and saute the sliced leeks over a low flame. Once the leeks become translucent, add the greens. Stirring often, make sure the greens get nice and wilted. Take the potatoes off the flame once their cooked and mash them with a potato masher. Add the sauteed green mix and PLENTY of fat (butter, coconut oil, etc) and salt. Don't be shy - potatoes need, and can take a lot of salt without being overly salty. If using, add the nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor.

I serve the stamppot with some already prepared veggie sausages, but you can do real meat sausages, and I go to town and serve it with fresh sauerkraut, but that might be a bit too much (or too Dutch - ha!) for some. Serve hot and I find the sausages go well with some Dijon mustard. Lekker!

 

Comments

[Pauletpaula]

oh yay.... the dutch cuisine:)
you know when I was pregnant with No2 last winter I had a crush on bitterballen...
Stamppot is perfect for this season... I will try your recipe ...
I love mash with veggies!
Amsterdam is white again with a little snow storm... are you better in Rotterdam?

[Mama Shak-Shuka]

ah...bitterballen - so much mystery in one little package :)
the recipe is really delicious and totally up for interpretation with what you have in your kitchen - get adventurous! and yes, it is snowy and cold here, but beautiful in Rotterdam!