Prep 5 minutes | 1 hour 15 minutes cooking time | Serves 4-6
Equipment:
- A large pot
- A small pot
- Chopping board
- Glass jug
- Potato masher (not a ricer)
- Heavy based saucepan
Ingredients:
- 1-1.25kg potatoes, preferably uniform size (Russett Burbanks or White Potatoes with thin skin for easy mashing)
- 200gms of kale stripped from stems (you will need to purchase 300-400 grams if you are purchasing with stems)
- 250mls or 1 cup of full-fat milk
- 2 teaspoons of sea salt flakes
- 4 spring onions
- 150gms unsalted butter
Instructions:
- Scrub your as evenly sized as possible, potatoes to clean. Place whole and unpeeled into a large salted pan of cold water. Bring to a healthy simmer (not a boil) with a partial lid covering. Larger potatoes will take up to an hour to cook, while smaller ones will only take around 40 minutes. Just check on them for readiness with a fork. When they feel nice and tender, they are done.
- While the potatoes are cooking, prepare your kale. Even if you buy ready-chopped kale, you will still need to remove the woody stems.
- Add the kale to a pot with a small amount of boiling salted water, and cook until soft, around five minutes. Once the kale is cool enough to handle (but not cold), wring out and remove as much water as possible. Return the kale to the pan and put the lid on to keep warm until later.
- Thinly chop your spring onions, using both the green and white parts and set aside.
- Once your potatoes are cooked, remove them from their hot pot and place them on a chopping board with paper towels to soak up the water. Don’t use a colander, as it can break up the potatoes, which you don’t want to do at this point. Empty out the potato pan and give it a quick wipe with a kitchen towel to remove any water, be careful it will be hot. Return your potatoes to the pot and place them back on the still-warm hob they were cooked on to dry out for a couple of minutes.
- Warm your milk on the stove or in the microwave.
- Your potatoes are now ready for mashing. Use whatever method you like, just don’t use a stick blender, or you might end up with something resembling glue! This recipe keeps the soft potato skins on, but you could remove them if you aren’t a fan. Add the milk and the salt and mash until smooth.
- Fold in the cooked kale and season to taste. Place the lid back on to keep it all nice and warm while you focus on the brown butter. Heat a serving dish in a warm oven or microwave.
- Place a small heat-proof jug next to your cooker. Cut your butter into slabs for easier melting. Heat a stainless steel heavy-based saucepan (Nigella uses an 18cm diameter, 8cm deep pot) on low and add the butter. Once the butter is all melted, raise the temperature to medium and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the butter starts to turn a nutty brown, with dark specks at the bottom of the pan. Once it’s toasty and deep golden brown after around seven minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and add the spring onions (which will make the butter sizzle loudly).
- Pour two-thirds of the butter into the potato mixture and the remaining third into your heat-proof jug for later use. Beat the butter into your Colcannon mixture and scrape into the warm serving dish, making deep swirls on the top with a spatula or spoon. Pour the remaining brown butter and spring onion mixture on top of the mash and serve immediately.
RECIPE FROM NIGELLA LAWSON
