purè di patate rosato / pinkish mashed potatoes

One day, at the farmers' market, I overheard a person asking for beets other than red beets, because their bleeding "is so annoying!" The remark surprised me, as I thought everybody liked the color of the red beet (barbabietola rossa), which makes, for example, a beautiful risotto. To keep bleeding to a minimum, I do not trim the beet before baking, but scrub it very carefully, then snip off the thin root, if present. Finally, I wrap the beet in foil. One day, recently, I prepared a couple of red beets for baking (at 375 F) while also planning to boil some potatoes to make purè di patate (mashed potatoes).

First, I decided to put each beet wrapped in foil in a crème brûlée mold, because a bit of juice usually manages to escape from the wrapping and I wanted to prevent it from spreading onto the baking sheet. Then, when I opened the foil packages of the baked beets and saw that there was a small quantity of beet juice at the bottom, I decided to add it to the potatoes, to which I had been adding some of their cooking water, my preferred liquid to thin them [which I learned to use from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone]. The result? A lovely pinkish side dish (contorno).

The final color depends on the amount and color of the potatoes and the amount of usable beet juice. For the two of us, I boiled an estimated 1.5 lb of potatoes (Kennebec variety), carefully scrubbed and unpeeled. After mashing them, I added a bit of olive oil, then some of their cooking water, the beet juice, and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. At the end, I also added freshly grated cheese (Monterey Jack of my own production) and fresh erba cipollina (chives) from my small herb garden.

This is my contribution to edition #227 of Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen, now administered by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once and hosted this week by Haalo herself (who recently encountered and cooked pink-fleshed potatoes, a variety I have never seen).

On this page you will find the roundup of the event.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

purè di patate rosato

or launch the purè di patate rosato  audio file [mp3].

 

Comments

[Haalo]

Such a clever idea to get wonderful pink potatoes! Thanks for taking part in WHB!

[bellini valli]

Pink potatoes are a definite sign of things to come!

[mia]

My dear Simona! What a lovely idea!
May I ask what normally becomes of these baked Beets?
Do you just bake them like Potatoes?This is also new to me..sounds interesting.
I actually really like Beets and need them for their Iron content,but dont seem to be able to do may things with them..:)Grazie,much Love,Mia.

[Lori Lynn @ Taste With The Eyes]

Love the pink potatoes Simona! We could design a whole menu around that idea!

Wishing you a Happy Easter!
LL

[Jeremy Parzen]

Happy Easter, Simona... Buona pasqua and hag sameach! :-) love the pink potatoes... have a great holiday...

[Simona Carini]

Thanks, Haalo. It's my pleasure.

Thanks, Valli: they certainly look cheerful.

Ciao Mia. Red beets are quite versatile. I sometimes bake a couple even though I have no clear plan, since at a minimum they can be sliced and made into a salad. Crumbled chevre or other cheese of choice works great. I add a dollop of my fromage blanc. I often make red beet hummus (recipe linked above), especially when I have guests or I am a guest, since it is a popular dip. Red beet risotto is really good too.

Lori Lynn, you have my undivided attention: I am sure that in your creative hands, the menu would be wonderful. Happy Easter to you too.

Ciao Jeremy. Auguri anche a te e Tracie. Voto per l'introduzione negli USA della Pasquetta, che e' una bella tradizione.

[astrofiammante]

wonderful idea, i like the colors in the dishes ^_________^ il fuso orario mi permette di essere ancora in tempo per gli auguri di buona pasqua, auguroni!!!!

[Ivy]

Hope you had a wonderful Easter. The pink mashed potatoes sounds like a fabulous side dish.

[Simona Carini]

Ciao Astro! Quando ho visto il tuo commento mi si e' accesa la lampadina: ho mandato i miei auguri all'indirizzo email che era giusto una volta ma ora non piu' :( Perdonami! Grazie degli auguri. Spero che le festvita' pasquali siano andate bene.

Thanks Ivy. The weather was quite bad, so I spent most of the day in the kitchen. I hope your Easter celebration went well.

[Joanne]

I only recently started eating beets but I think when you combine them with the potatoes it makes a great transitional dish to get people to eat them. Something old mixed with something new!

Love the color.

[Foodycat]

Beautiful coloured potatoes! I just can't imagine liking beetroot but not liking the colour!

[Simona Carini]

Thanks Joanne. I started eating beets quite late, but now I am enthusiastic about them: they are very versatile.

Ciao Foodycat. I love colorful foods, and red beets' color is so cheerful.