Comfort food comes in many edible shapes in sizes. Sometimes it is pasta, frequently it is risotto, and if I am rushed for time soup is great. It also can, and should, be delivered as mashed root vegetables with fresh herbs and cheese.
After not having cooked anything in a week and not really having any down time either, this past Sunday I made a real roast chicken dinner, complete with gravy, my favorite Brussels sprouts and this lovely starchy side dish of mashed parsnips.
Mashed potatoes aren’t always my favorite, but if you cover them in homemade gravy they are totally divine. Even better? Try adding some parsnip to add a bit more flavour. Oh and, of course the cream cheese is necessary, because all comfort food requires cheese. I actually kept these mashed parsnips and potatoes in the oven for a good 25 minutes while the chicken finished cooking and it worked well being prepared ahead. I love dishes that take the pressure off of timing!
(serves 3-4)
5 medium parsnips
3 medium red potatoes
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons cream cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Fill a pot with cold salted water. Peel the parsnips and chop into ~1 inch sized pieces and add to the pot as you go. Clean potatoes and peel if desired or leave unpeeled. Chop into pieces slightly smaller then the parsnip and add to the pot.
Bring to a simmer and cook until both parsnips and potatoes are tender, test both. (It took about 20 minutes for mine.) Drain the potatoes and put back in hot pan. Add a good helping of salt and pepper and mash roughly with a fork until more or a less even. Add cream cheese and chives and whip in.
If you are making slightly ahead of time, this keeps well in an oven pour into a baking dish, smooth the top and sprinkle with pepper. It will brown nicely, but if you are going to have it in for a long while then cover with tin foil so it doesn’t dry out.
Similar Recipes:
Mashed Cauliflower
Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes
Potato Kugel
Mashed Turnip
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
This is my kind of side dish – sounds wonderful!!
I've tried to add cream cheese to my potatoes with disastrous results, mostly because I love cream cheese and end up adding way too much.
I'm definitely going to try this recipe, and I promise to stick to the measurements!
Cream cheese in your mashed!? Sounds A.MA.ZING. (but then really that's how I feel about anything cheese…)
This is the dish that I want to eat almost everyday! Present in the dish are all my favorites-cream cheese and potatoes!
EMC – There is a lot of variation with cream cheese, the one I used was quite liquidy, you could always try softening it in the microwave first?
L – cheese makes you eat your veggies right?
china cabinet – who doesn't like potatoes and cream cheese!
Love the recipe! It reminds me of my mom's mashed potatoes as she always sneaks in the parsnips. I'll have to give these a go!
Brent – I love that this is how your Mum used to make them! I had no idea it was so popular.
I am not the biggest mashed potatoes fan either but if I am eating potatoes, they are definitely flavored with chives. It is one of the best combinations I've ever had. Delicious recipe.
This sounds absolutely delicious to me, as does your whole dinner–roast chicken and brussels sprouts? Why, those are two of my favorite things! Add this creamy goodness on the side and I'm in heaven.