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Recipe: Pizza Mashed Potatoes

Christmas is almost here. It’s hard to believe! Naturally, mashed potatoes are one of the essential side dishes of a classic holiday dinner, but even they can use some spicing up once and awhile. This recipe calls for tomato sauce, plenty of cheese and garlic sausage. It’s fantastic for the kids (or the kids at heart) at the table this weekend.

Enjoy and happy holidays, folks!

What you’ll need…

8 white potatoes (peeled and 1/2″ cubed)

2 teaspoons sea salt

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

salt and pepper (to taste)

3 cups good quality tomato sauce

1 Ukrainian garlic sausage (1/4″ sliced)

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons water

2 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place cubed potatoes and salt in a large pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Let boil until potatoes are fork tender, about 10 minutes or so.

Strain water from pot, add-in cream, butter and basil and mash until potatoes are fairly smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside for now.

Next, place tomato sauce and sausage in a large pan and bring to a simmer on medium-high heat. Reduce to medium heat and let cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine cornstarch and water and add to the pan, stir until sauce mixture thickens noticeably. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

To assembly, spoon out half on the mashed potatoes into a large baking dish. Next layer with sauce mixture and half of the mozzarella and parmesan. Top with remaining potatoes.

Place remaining cheese and heavy cream together in a bowl, toss gently with hands to combine and spread out evenly on top of potatoes.

Bake in the oven until golden brown and bubbly. Let cool for several minutes before serving.

Serves 5-6

Total prep and cook time…40 minutes