Last Updated on 15/07/2020 by Adina
Healthy cauliflower and potato mash with garlic, an amazing side dish for any kind of meat or fish, creamy, comforting, and delicious!
Easy and healthy cauliflower and potato mash, this is one of my favorite side dishes at the moment. And if you like potatoes mashed with vegetables, you could try this creamy spinach potato mash.
Ingredients
I have changed the original recipe a bit, added some garlic, and some nutmeg, but the principle is simple. You can either keep to this version or change it easily to suit your own taste.
Cauliflower:
- Fresh or frozen cauliflower, both versions were just as good.
- And in case you have some cauliflower (or even broccoli) stems leftover from cooking another dish where you only used the florets, you can make the mash with those stems.
Potatoes:
- Floury potatoes are always best to use for mash, but if all-purpose potatoes are all you have in the house, use them.
Dairy:
- What makes this cauliflower and potato mash perfect is the use of sour cream or creme fraiche.
- The original recipe uses Smetana, a typical Eastern European dairy product.
- If you cannot get it, sour cream, creme fraiche or full-fat cream cheese are perfect substitutes.
- I love adding cream cheese to regular potato mash as well, I think I’ve never left it out for the past 5 years or so.
How to serve?
- You can serve the mashed cauliflower with just about anything, from meat and poultry to fish or vegetarian main dishes.
- We often serve it with balsamic beef roast, sausages, fish with tomato sauce, and meatballs.
Leftovers
- In case you have some leftovers, first of all, they can be easily reheated.
- Or add some vegetable or chicken broth and make a soup out of it. Totally delicious!
Although this recipe for cauliflower mash seems to be known all around the world, I found the recipe for this version in another old Romanian cookbook written by Sanda Marin. That is the pseudonym under which Cecilia Simionescu, the daughter of a well-known professor at the beginning of the 20th century published her cookbooks. Her first cookbook was published in 1936 (the year my grandmother was born) and has been republished many many times ever since.
More cauliflower recipes:
Baked Cauliflower Potato Patties
Meatball Cauliflower Casserole served with potatoes
Cauliflower in Mustard Sauce served with potatoes
Cauliflower and Potato Mash
Healthy cauliflower and potato mash with garlic, an amazing side dish for any kind of meat or fish, creamy, comforting and delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 cauliflower, about 800 g/ 28 oz
- 3 potatoes, about 300 g/ 10.6 oz
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons sour cream or crème fraiche (Note)
- 1 garlic clove
- some nutmeg
- fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add some salt, the chopped cauliflower, and potatoes and cook them until soft, about 20-25 minutes. Drain and mash well.
- Add the butter, milk, creme fraiche/sour cream, grated garlic clove, freshly grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste. You can adjust the milk quantity to your liking. Start with 2 or 3 tablespoons and add more for a thinner consistency. Serve hot.
Notes
For a genuine Romanian recipe, use smetana. Otherwise creme fraiche, sour cream or cream cheese are all great.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1/4 of the dishAmount Per Serving: Calories: 181Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 373mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 6gSugar: 5gProtein: 6g
Nutrition information isn’t always accurate.
3 comments
I know and remeber everything you wrote about history. These time was not so long time ago and I realy hope that never come back. And I hope you will publish and modernize these old recipes. Because as you said. Time was terrible but food was poor but fair and real.
Very delicious! The mashed cauliflower is one of my favourites too.
How very interesting! I never would have thought that recipes in a cookbook would be “censored”. Thanks for sharing that info and this recipe. What a great way to tone down the starchiness and carbs of mashed potatoes.