There are people who dislike mashed potatoes. No really, there are! There are probably even yahoo groups for them and they’re taking over the world, one boiled potato at a time. 

How do I know this? 

Well, I learned it the hard way: after slaving over a hot stove during the Holidays only to find out that one of my dinner guests was one of them haters. Stupid enough it never occurred to me people could actually dislike mashed taters. I mean, what’s not to like about the creamy, fluffy, goodness? 

But all kidding aside, this fabulous classic French recipe is one you’ll really want to put on the table this Thanksgiving or Christmas. And not just for those who don’t like The Mash. It’s simple but fragrant, delicious and pretty. 


Ingredients: 

1 1/2 pound small potatoes
1 medium tomato
1/3 can diced tomatoes
1 large garlic clove
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1 bay leaf
nutmeg
pepper
salt 


Directions: 

This is the Aurore part. Aurore means dawn in French, referring to the beautiful orange color of the sauce. The tomato gives the sauce its distinct color.
 

The potatoes. I took a shortcut and bought them parboiled. If you’re using small new potatoes, scrape them and parboil them for about 8 to 10 minutes in salted water.
 

Squeeze out the seeds and make sure you take out every single seed.
 

Finely mince the tomato and put it in a sauce pan.
 

Add 1/3 can diced tomatoes to the freshly chopped tomato.
 

Slice the garlic and add it to the tomatoes along with the bay leaf and 1 tbsp butter. 
 

Pop it on the stove, add a good pinch of black pepper and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer the tomatoes for 15 minutes.
 

It smells amazing! The garlic and bay leaf adds so much flavor.
 

Once the sauce has been reduced to 1/2 of what you started with, its time to puree it. Discard the bay leaf. 
 

Use a regular or immersion blender to homogenize the sauce.
 

Time to make a béchamel sauce. Heat 3 tbsp butter and when hot you dump the flour in there. Let the roux cook for 2 minutes while stirring occasionally. 
 

Pour 1 cup of milk in there.
 

And stir vigorously. Nothing worse than a lumpy béchamel sauce. 
  

Bit by bit pour in the next cup of milk while stirring until you have a sauce consistency you like. Season the sauce with salt, white pepper and nutmeg to taste.
 

Stir in the tomato puree. 
 

Until you have a sauce as orange as the sunrise. The sauce doesn’t need cream in my opinion, but feel free to add a tbsp (or two) for extra richness.
 

Stir the parboiled potatoes into the sauce. Put the lid on and simmer the potatoes in the sauce until fully cooked. This will take 8 to 10 minutes. Stir often! 
 

Check the seasoning one last time and feel free to melt some cheese in there as well.
 

These potatoes are sinfully good and go really well with turkey, chicken or fish.