Potato purée
The French have fond childhood memories of this, and while nothing will ever be as good as "Maman" made, here's a fairly straightforward way to make it.
256 K 4.3/5 (36 reviews)
1 hour 35 min.
Easy
2.40 €
1 kg 300 g
5 IngredientsLast modified on: October 3rd 2010
1 kg 
125 g 
125 g 
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 50 min.
Cooking: 45 min.
All in all: 1 hour 35 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - ⌛ 40 min.
Wash 1 kg potatoes but don't peel them. Put on to boil in a large pan of lightly-salted water.
The potatoes are cooked when a knife blade goes through them easily.
The potatoes are cooked when a knife blade goes through them easily.
Stage 2 - ⌛ 2 min.
Remove them from the water as soon as they are cooked (don't leave them to cool in the water, they might take on an unpleasant taste).
Stage 3 - ⌛ 5 min.
As soon as they are cool enough to handle, peel them and remove any small blemishes (the "eyes" of the potato).
Stage 4 - ⌛ 15 min.
Cut into pieces and pass through a vegetable mill using the finest setting.
If you don't have a vegetable mill, use a potato masher (a sort of grid on a handle), but it's hard work.
If you don't have a vegetable mill, use a potato masher (a sort of grid on a handle), but it's hard work.
Stage 5 - ⌛ 2 min.
Put the mashed potatoes in a pan.
Stage 6 - ⌛ 5 min.
Stir constantly over low heat for 4 or 5 minutes to dry the purée.
This is to improve the texture.
This is to improve the texture.
Stage 7 - ⌛ 3 min.
Then add 125 g butter cut into small pieces, a little at a time, stirring well until the butter is completely incorporated.
Stage 8 - ⌛ 2 min.
Add 125 g cream and mix again thoroughly.
Stage 9 - ⌛ 1 min.
Salt and pepper. Your potato purée is ready.
Already quite delicious just as it is, you can serve it "Irish style", for example, with a little chopped chives.
Already quite delicious just as it is, you can serve it "Irish style", for example, with a little chopped chives.
Stage 10 - ⌛ 20 min.
You can improve it even further by passing it through a sieve. It's long and tiring...
Stage 11
...but you'll have the finest, smoothest potato purée ever.
Remarks
I advise you to use white pepper rather than black; it's less noticable in the finished purée (no little black bits).
The great chef Joel Robuchon liked to say that he built his restaurant's reputation on its potato purée and green salad. Indeed, I got the idea of using the sieve from him, but please note that in his day he used 250g (½ lb) of butter for 1 kg (just over 2 lb) of potatoes!
The great chef Joel Robuchon liked to say that he built his restaurant's reputation on its potato purée and green salad. Indeed, I got the idea of using the sieve from him, but please note that in his day he used 250g (½ lb) of butter for 1 kg (just over 2 lb) of potatoes!
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, in a closed jar.
Source: Home made.
How much will it cost?
- For 1 kg 300 g : 2.40 €
Change currency:
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
Some other recipes using this recipeSee them all 16
Spinach parmentier
A parmentier with its classic layer of mashed potatoes on top, but sliced hard-boiled eggs underneath, and grilled spinach and bacon tied together with a béchamel sauce.
15 K 60 min.
Chicken Brussels pie
This is a novel twist on the well known cottage or shepherd's pie idea (minced meat topped with mashed potato). Why not try this "Brussels" pie with a mixture of mashed potato and Brussels sprouts on top of chopped chicken?
60 K5 1 hour 25 min.
Sausage with duchess potatoes and a Mont d'Or fondue
The duchess potatoes are poached in a roll before being sliced and fried. They are served in alternate layers with slices of sausage, also cooked in two stages (boiled then fried), then topped with a fondue of Mont d'Or cheese.
210 K3.9 2 hours 15 min.
Sausage and mashed potatoes
Sausage and mashed potato, a classic family favourite, served here with a delicious reduced gravy.
28 K 45 min.
Aligot
Aligot is a traditional family dish from the Auvergne mountains in France. It is basically a potato purée enriched with cheese and stirred for a long time.
131 K4.2 1 hour 20 min.
This recipe uses (among others)
Potatoes
Like these other recipes: Potato tortilla (Spanish omelette), Bourguignon potatoes , Potato wallets, Minestrone, Potatoes with prawns, ... See them all 90
Butter
Like these other recipes: Beurre d'escargot, Smart plum tart, Plum and hazelnut crumble, Kugelhof for Nanou, Grilled cheese, ... See them all 492
Cream
Like these other recipes: Spaghetti Carbonara, Spinach à la Lorraine, Elsa's Comtoise galette, Potato gratin, Mushroom tart, ... See them all 123
Salt
Like these other recipes: Penne with purple artichokes, Green beans with feta cream and cherry tomatoes, Rustic chicken and mushroom pie, Greek salad, Snow peas sautéed in butter, ... See them all 692
Other recipes you may also like
Larded pork tenderloin
Tenderloin of pork stuffed with mustard and parsley, then wrapped in thin slices of bacon and oven roasted. November 3rd 2011273 K 14.7 1 hour 30 min.
How to prepare corn salad
Corn salad (or lamb's lettuce) is a green salad plant. It can be used like lettuce, but requires careful preparation as it is often grown in sand. Here is how to prepare corn salad from the freshly picked plant to the leaves ready to use. April 10th 2013167 K4.1 20 min.
Noisette butter
"Noisette" means hazelnut in French. Noisette butter is made by melting butter, then boiling and raising it to a high temperature until it takes on both a light brown hazelnut colour and also a characteristic nutty smell. Compared with simple clarified butter, this noisette butter has a delicate yet distinctive flavour which is a welcome addition to both savoury and sweet recipes (particularly in cakes and pastries). August 27th 2025145 K4.5 15 min.
You should not leave egg yolks in contact with sugar
You should not leave egg yolks in contact with sugar for too long without beating them, because this contact "cooks" egg yolks and you will get small lumps of hard egg in your mixture. February 21th 2011140 K5
