Updated 6.21.21.
Here’s what I said about these potatoes back in 2013:
With almost an entire bottle of Marsala wine staring at me begging me to be used, I concocted this recipe for mashed potatoes.
I can be a lazy cook at times – usually when making mashed potatoes for some reason. I hate cutting up the potatoes. I boil them whole and take them out of the pot of water as they become done (easily fall from a fork when pierced). This time, I didn’t cook the potatoes quite long enough, which made them really hard to mash! So I had to use my stand mixer.
Despite having potatoes that weren’t quite done enough to mash really well, I really liked the flavor of this dish. It’s a different take on traditional mashed potatoes but something you should try if you enjoy dishes made with Marsala wine.
Once again, I had an entire bottle of Marsala wine that I needed to use so I thought I would try recreating these potatoes. This dish takes a bit of coordination as you are making the cream sauce and boiling potatoes at the same time, not to mention prepping ingredients for finishing the potatoes.
I had to make the cream sauce twice because the first batch got burned. I walked outside to pick some thyme when the sauce was nearly boiled down and when I got back in the sauce burned and splattering all over the stove. Drat! For the second batch, I only had one cup of Marsala wine left so I used red wine as a substitute for the rest. The second batch with mixed wine didn’t smell as nice as it did when I was using all Marsala. At any rate, word of caution – keep your eyes peeled on the Marsala sauce so it doesn’t burn.
I used brown butter instead of melted butter. I would recommend using melted butter or a mixture of both. Straight brown butter yields a different texture. I don’t want to say gluey but maybe congealed? I served these potatoes with pan-roasted sea bass braised in butter. I spooned the melted butter over the fish and the mashed potatoes for serving. Mixing the melted butter with the potatoes changed the texture of the potatoes back to normal.
One last note, I accidentally over salted the potatoes when I was cooking them. I didn’t think it would matter but since I drained the water from the potatoes and then mashed the potatoes in the pan, they turned out extra salty. With the Marsala wine, parmesan cheese, extra salt and loads of butter, the mashed potatoes practically melted in my mouth.
marsala cream sauce ingredients.
- 2 T. butter
- 1 ½ c. Marsala wine
- ¼ c. red table wine (optional)
- ½ c. heavy cream
- 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- salt and pepper
mashed potato ingredients.
- 2 lb red or gold potatoes, scrubbed, cut into 1-inch pieces (peel potatoes or leave skin on)
- ½ c. butter, melted or browned
- ¼ c. freshly shaved parmesan cheese
- Marsala cream sauce (about ¾ c.)
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
marsala cream sauce directions.
- In a large skillet, heat the butter over high heat. Add the Marsala wine and cook for 15 to 20 minutes allowing the wine to reduce to ¼ cup. Meanwhile, start the potatoes.
- Stir in the heavy cream and thyme. Reduce the heat to low and cook the sauce for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.
mashed potato directions.
- Place the potatoes in a medium size saucepan and fill with water. Add some salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are fork tender. When potatoes are finished cooking, drain and place back in the saucepan over very low heat.
- Mash potatoes with a potato masher just until smooth. Add the browned butter, parmesan cheese and cream sauce. Stir to combine and add salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 