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Spring Onion and Cheese Potato Cake, Two Ways
![Spring Onion and Cheese Potato Cake, Two Ways](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2020/06/24/dining/22ottorex/22ottorex-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 6large red bliss potatoes (about 2¾ pounds/1¼ kilograms), scrubbed clean
- ½cup plus 2 tablespoons/150 milliliters olive oil
- 16spring onions or 2 large bunches scallions (about 7 ounces/200 grams), trimmed and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
- 6garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- ⅔cup/160 milliliters heavy cream
- 3large eggs plus 1 yolk, beaten
- 3ounces/85 grams Parmesan, finely grated
- 3tablespoons finely chopped preserved lemon or 1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
- 1teaspoon ground turmeric
- 5ounces/140 grams mature Cheddar, roughly grated
- 7ounces/200 grams feta (preferably Greek), roughly crumbled
- 1cup/200 grams frozen peas, thawed
- 1tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves, plus a few extra sprigs to garnish
- 1(12-ounce) jar roasted red peppers, drained, patted dry and roughly chopped (about 8 ounces/250 grams)
- ½cup/20 grams roughly chopped fresh cilantro, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
- 3tablespoons harissa paste or 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
For the Potato Cake
For the Pea and Thyme Filling
For the Red Pepper and Harissa Filling
Preparation
- Step 1
Add the potatoes to a large pot and top with enough water to cover by about 1½ inches/4 centimeters. Bring to a boil over medium-high, then lower the heat to medium, cover with a lid and cook until easily pierced with a knife, about 30 minutes. Drain well. Once cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes (saving the skins for another use), and transfer them to a large bowl.
- Step 2
While the potatoes are cooking, add half the olive oil to a large (12-inch/30-centimeter) cast-iron skillet or an ovenproof skillet that is at least about 3 inches/8 centimeters deep. Heat over medium. Once hot, add the spring onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly colored, about 6 minutes. If making with peas, add the peas and thyme; if making with peppers, add the peppers, cilantro and harissa. Add ½ teaspoon salt and plenty of pepper, stir to combine and set aside.
- Step 3
Heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit/230 degrees Celsius (non-fan).
- Step 4
Add the cream, eggs and yolk, Parmesan, preserved lemon, turmeric, half the Cheddar and ½ teaspoon salt to the potatoes in the large bowl. Use a potato masher to break everything down to a rough mash that is still a bit lumpy. Add the feta and the spring onion mixture and fold everything together.
- Step 5
Wipe the skillet clean, add the remaining olive oil, then transfer the skillet to the oven for about 5 minutes to heat up. Remove from the oven and carefully add the potato mix. Level the top, sprinkle with the remaining Cheddar and a few sprigs of thyme, if using, in the center and return to the oven.
- Step 6
Reduce the oven temperature to 400 degrees Fahrenheit/205 degrees Celsius and bake the cake until golden and bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside for 15 to 20 minutes to firm up before serving. Sprinkle with the extra cilantro, and serve warm, spooned directly from the pan.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
A pound of cheese, heavy cream, eggs, and potatoes - how could you lose with this one.
Maybe his 4 year old son can safely eat this dish, but the rest of us will meet an early demise. Dare I ask for the nutritional information?
I just made this. It is DELICIOUS! I only had two eggs left--we only shop every two weeks--and we just had domestic feta, not Greek, and we did not have spring onions so I used shallots and regular onion. Regardless--very, very yummy.
That Southern lady on YouTube would add a stick of butter and a package of softened cream cheese. Plus bacon as a garnish.
There is never any reason to peel a potato. Leave their nutrients in the dish.
I'm sure it could be made with less cheese. The real question is why would somebody want to do that? :)
There is no need to preheat the oven to 450° just to heat the skillet. The recipe has you bake the dish at 400°, so just preheat the oven to that temperature and save yourself time and money.
I followed the original version, replacing the green onion with 1/2 lb. slivered shallots, and added some oil packed sun dried tomatoes. Because it was for adults I also added a few pinches of red pepper flakes. It was very tasty!
You can do the whole potatoes in the pressure cooker. I set them on the trigger and add just a cup of water, cook for 10-12 minutes at pressure and natural release for at least ten minutes.
I will try this with nonfat milk, egg replacer, fat-free feta, and with less olive oil--and skip the crème fraîche for serving. I'll bet it will still be good. Recipe creators just dance on, as if how much fat, especially animal fat, we eat makes no difference. I can't do that, or my cholesterol level will rise. I have lots of "spring onions" my garden onion crop just having been damaged by a root rot, so this recipe is timely for me. Real world out here, you know.
Seriously, don't peel the potatoes.
I've made a less luxurious version of this for my children. Yes, it is not for people dieting but it is extremely tasty for those who don't need to worry about calories. And I might add that the recipe looks like it would serve 8 people easily, with a simple salad on the side, so while it's an indulgence, it's still not over kill.
I did a major mom move and added chopped broccoli. Our kids loved it. The only step I might skip is adding the remaining olive oil to the pan at the end. It made the dish on the greasy side.
An art project :)
I divided it into two and cooked in two smaller dishes in the oven. One for now and one for later :)
Like several others who commented here, I thought this dish had a lot of saturated fats. I used stock instead of cream, two eggs instead of three, and reduced the amount of cheddar cheese by about one-third. Still came out plenty rich and delicious. Served with a green salad with clementines, roasted nuts and pickled onions to balance it all out. Great meal for ovo-lacto vegetarians and celiacs, so worked well for my family.
Delicious! Is it supposed to set? Super yummy comfort food, tho. I used jalapeño peppers instead of roasted red peppers (which I didn’t have), which worked great. Fabulously satisfying.
Why not… four whole eggs?
As suggested by many reviewers, I added broccoli when I made the pea & thyme version. It was a great addition because it provided a desirable textural change. The feta provided some variation in texture, but the broccoli gave the dish some char as well as feeling like you're eating more than lumpy mashed potatoes. The seasonings are wonderful, so this will become a comfort go-to dish in our house!
Delicious! We didn’t have harissa or feta, so we used Korean gochujang, and whatever cheese we found in the fridge. Also got some rosemary from the garden and put that in as well. Turned out great.
Flavors were ok, but this was essentially a really difficult recipe for mashed potatoes
Used a ricer with coarse filter on the potatoes and did not fuss too much with the peels. Underwhelmed with final dish. Memorable as the first time I put lemon in mashed potatoes. So much heavy cream, olive oil, egg yolk, and cheese to such little effect.
This dish was absolutely delightful. I made the thyme and pea one. The turmeric and lemon zest add a complexity of flavor amongst the cheese, eggs, and potatoes. Wonderful dish!
Gets better as leftovers. I made it as written (the pea version). It was decent the first night, but seemed like a lot of work for what is essentially a very rich side dish. But I found it was excellent as leftovers.
Made the harissa and red pepper version. So delicious! I love how the simple ingredient list really lets each flavor shine. My husband was skeptical we could make it work on a week night, but it came together with minimal fuss and he raved about it all night.
This was very good, but more work than I want to do in one go. I cooked the potatoes and vegetables a day ahead, which helped. Also, the recipe makes an ENORMOUS amount (should have paid attention to the # of servings listed), so, in the future, unless feeding a crowd, I’d cut the recipe in half. Don't think potatoes are known to freeze well, but am going to have to try doing so with our leftovers.
Would adding smoked salmon to the peas/thyme version work? If so, should it just be added on top after cooking or baked into the dish?
Did anyone who has made this think to add canned diced tomatoes? I bet that would be very compatible and tasty.
You would need to dry those tomatoes very well.
The spring onions in my Farmers' Market have much bigger bulbs than scallions. 16 of them would seem excessive!
Why not peel the potatoes before boiling?
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