The Daily: 28 July 2025

The lingering thick smoke is scary. The inflammation in my spine is scary. The hospital bills are very scary… I am feeling in need of comfort food. I think we all get this way… More often than not, these days. We want something nourishing and simple, something quick, something that doesn’t add heat to the already hot kitchen.

Something that goes with a Copeland, Stravinsky and Ralph Vaughn Williams binge… Or maybe that’s just me… (There was John Adams and Josquin des Prez and Borodin in there also… It was loud.)

I have a few go-to recipes for such things. Most of them feature potatoes. So I have many options that go well with the summer potato harvest and Lughnasadh. I’ve already given a few of my favorites, but somehow I keep forgetting this one… And I eat it ALL THE TIME!

So without further ado…

Mashed Potato Pizza

Ingredients

3-4 potatoes, your choice on variety
     enough to make 3 cups potato mash
garlic, roasted
     I use a whole small bulb
1 large red onion sliced thin
2-3 portobello mushrooms, cubed (ish)

12" pizza crust, baked firm
     I make these on cool weekends & freeze them.
    Or use your favorite pre-made.

olive oil
balsamic vinegar
dried oregano, 2 tsp
fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped, 2Tbs
fresh parsley, chopped fine, 1/8 cup
chipotle chile powder to taste
salt & black pepper to taste

Instructions

Roast a bulb of garlic. (Shouldn’t all recipes start like that!) This can be done whenever the kitchen is cool enough. Roasted garlic cloves keep in the fridge for a very long time. I haven’t actually had them go bad…

Wash, chop and boil the potatoes. You can leave the skins in or not. I usually leave them. Especially if I’m using red or blue potatoes.

When the garlic is cool enough to handle, press it into a paste. Reserve a tablespoon or so of the garlic paste for the potatoes. The rest goes in the sauce. Use however much you like. I love garlic… but maybe you don’t want a whole bulb.

When the potatoes are very soft, strain them out of their liquid, reserving about a quarter cup of the starchy liquid.

Mash the potatoes with the tablespoon of pressed garlic, a couple tablespoons olive oil, and a dash of balsamic vinegar. When the mash is mostly smooth (aside from potato skins), mix in the fresh chopped parsley. (Try not to eat too much of this mash before it goes on the pizza…)

Slice the red onion very thin.

Caramelize the onion in a bit of olive oil. The slices should all be translucent. Most should be browned.

While the onion is sautéing, wash the mushrooms and chop into bite-sized cubes.

When the onions are almost done, add the mushrooms and sauté together. Set aside.

To make the sauce, combine 1/8 cup olive oil with the oregano and however much mashed garlic you choose to use in a heavy-bottom saucepan. Heat the herbed oil, stirring constantly, and whisk in enough of the potato starch liquid to make a thick sauce. You can also use flour to thicken the sauce (as you would make gravy). Salt and pepper to taste. Blend in however much chipotle pepper powder you want. (I like it hot…) I sometimes also add just a smidge of balsamic vinegar, but not enough to make the sauce runny. If it looks more like broth than gravy, cook it down to evaporate the water. (This adds heat to the kitchen, but that’s better than soggy pizza…)

Position an oven rack as high as it will go and still fit a pizza. Then, preheat the oven to 425°F.

Place your baked crust on a pizza pan or a stone.

Spoon the sauce onto the crust, working from the center outwards. Leave a bit of the edge without sauce. You may not use all the sauce. If that’s the case, it keeps in the fridge for a while and can be used for all sorts of things. (Makes for superb scrambled eggs… for example…)

Next, spoon the mashed potatoes onto the crust. Make a thin coating of potato mash on the whole pie. Then, place a few large dollops around the pie, one dollop for each future slice (usually 8). A small ice cream scoop works well for this.

Drop the onion and mushroom mixture into the potato coating. If you’re going for presentation, add the onions and mushrooms before the potato dollops. Just looks more interesting.

Sprinkle the fresh rosemary over the whole pie, even the edges.

Bake at 425°F for 15-20 minutes. The crust should be brown. There should be ample browning on the potato mash. But the rosemary should not be burnt. So keep an eye on it the first time you make this pizza.

This can be cooked outdoors in a grill that has some sort of protection from the coals. If you are lucky enough to have a horno or outdoor pizza oven, this is one pizza that really shines when cooked on a wood fire. And, of course, outdoor cooking does not heat up the kitchen!

When it’s cooked, let it cool for five minutes or so. Then cut and serve.

This pizza is just as good cold as hot. If you have left-overs, that is…

Sometimes I will sprinkle a bit of asiago or gorgonzola cheese on the top just before baking. I usually add fresh grated parmigiano after cooking. But that’s just a grace note. Leave out that cheese sprinkle, and this recipe is deliciously vegan.

For a really interesting twist, add a palmful of chopped dried figs to the potato mash just before spreading it on the crust. I suspect raisins would be pretty good too, but I haven’t tried that… yet…

This is a perfectly acceptable Lughnasadh AND Lammas feast in one dish. Features both bread and potatoes… And garlic… That being true, it’s a bit on the high caloric side.

But you’ll be busy with highland games and hiking up mountains, or just trying to stay on top of the harvest, so undoubtedly you’ll need the extra calories.

Blessed be!

©Elizabeth Anker 2025