Silky Garlic Mashed Potatoes

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Two kinds of garlic — smashed cloves steeped in warm cream and a whole head roasted until jammy — give these mashed potatoes deep, sweet garlic flavor with none of the raw bite. Pushing the potatoes through a ricer while they're still steaming is the single trick that separates restaurant-smooth from gluey and lumpy. It's a humble Italian side dish, done with real technique.

Ingredients

• 1 head garlic, whole
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 pinch kosher salt

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
• 1 bay leaf

• 3 lb Yukon Gold potatoes
• 2 tbsp kosher salt, for the cooking water
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes and softened
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 tsp white pepper

• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh chives or flat-leaf parsley
• flaky sea salt

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Slice the top 1/4 inch off the head of garlic to expose the cloves, set it cut-side up on a square of foil, drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, and wrap tightly. Roast 40–45 minutes, until the cloves are deep golden and completely soft when pressed. Let cool 10 minutes, then squeeze the pulp into a small bowl and mash smooth with a fork.
2. While the garlic roasts, combine the cream, milk, smashed garlic cloves, thyme, and bay leaf in a small saucepan. Bring to a bare simmer over medium heat (small bubbles at the edge, about 3 minutes), then kill the heat, cover, and let steep at least 20 minutes. Do not boil it — scorched cream tastes like it.
3. Peel the potatoes and cut them into even 1 1/2-inch chunks. Put them in a large pot, cover with cold water by 1 inch, and add the 2 tablespoons of salt. Starting in cold water is what cooks them evenly all the way through.
4. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady, gentle simmer and cook 18–22 minutes, until a paring knife slides into a chunk with zero resistance and it slips off on its own. Under-cooked potatoes are the #1 cause of lumps.
5. Drain the potatoes thoroughly in a colander, then return them to the empty hot pot and set it over low heat for 60 seconds, shaking occasionally, to steam off surface moisture. Drier potatoes absorb more butter and cream.
6. Rewarm the steeped cream over low heat until steaming, then strain out and discard the smashed garlic, thyme, and bay leaf. Whisk in the mashed roasted garlic pulp until smooth. Keep it warm.
7. Working while the potatoes are still steaming hot, press them through a potato ricer (or a food mill on the fine disk) directly into a large warm bowl or back into the pot. Hot potatoes rice cleanly; cool ones turn pasty.
8. Scatter the 6 tablespoons of cubed butter over the riced potatoes and fold gently with a flexible spatula until the butter disappears — about 30 seconds. Butter before liquid coats the starch and keeps the mash from turning gluey.
9. Pour in about three-quarters of the warm garlic cream and fold gently until just combined and glossy, adding more cream a splash at a time until the mash holds a soft, slowly collapsing peak. Fold in the Parmigiano, 1 teaspoon salt, and the white pepper. Never beat with a mixer or blend — overworking releases starch and makes wallpaper paste.
10. Taste and adjust salt (mashed potatoes need more than you think). Transfer to a warm serving bowl, make a shallow well on top, drop in the last tablespoon of butter, and let it melt. Shower with chives and flaky salt and serve immediately.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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