Gluten Free Pesto Mashed Potatoes

A month or so ago, I went to an Italian restaurant where I was served pesto mashed potatoes and it was one of those hitting my forehead type of moments, “Why didn’t I ever think of that?” They were fantastic, but lacking in butter. Perhaps they used olive oil only. They had just a hint of garlic and basil, not overbearing as you may expect. It didn’t taste like pesto pasta, nor garlic mashed potatoes, but a unique, flavorful mashed potato. I was able to duplicate the recipe, and wanted to share it with you, though my version has more butter than theirs. Rich, decadent and creamy! They were so good that I forgot to take a photo of them when first made. See my left-overs in the below photo. Enjoy.

A gluten free basil pesto mashed potatoes recipe anyone would enjoy.

Ingredients:

3 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size pieces
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
7 cloves garlic, minced finely, grated or crushed
21" of organic basil herb blend (It comes in a tube, found in the produce section of your grocery store. I used "Gourmet Garden brand.) (or pesto sauce, to taste)
5 Tablespoons butter (or dairy free substitute)
2 Tablespoons of potato water
2 1/2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Pinch of sea salt
Pinch of white pepper (or black, if necessary)

Instructions:

Boil potatoes until just tender. Some of the smaller ones may fall apart when pierced with a knife, but you do not want most of them to fall apart, as this will cause your mashed potatoes to turn out mushy.
Preheat the oil in a small sauce pan.
Sauté garlic and basil paste for about 2 minutes.
Add garlic and basil to food processor.
Drain potatoes and reserve a little of the water.
Add the potatoes, butter, potato water, salt and pepper to a food processor or electric mixer; and pulsate until all chunks are whipped smoothly. (A Food processor creates a good Louis/star cheer texture, whereas the electric mixer will make fluffy mashed potatoes.)

Tips

If using a food processor, be careful not to over mix, as this will over-develop the starch content, making them pasty.

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View Comments

Andrea says:

January 13, 2011 at 3:16 pm

This sounds delicious! I bet adding pine nuts would be great as well (either whole after blending if you like a bit of crunchiness, or before, just for the additional flavour). Definitely going to try this!