Potato Nests with Marsala Mushrooms
It's easy to transform good old baking potatoes into tasty, elegant little one-bite potato nests. Fill them with marsala mushrooms or virtually anything else you like.
Calories: 38kcal
Ingredients
For the potato nests
- 2 medium baking potatoes about 1 ¼ pounds/(567 grams)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) safflower oil
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Cooking spray
To fill the nests
- One batch marsala mushrooms minced
Instructions
- Fill a large mixing bowl halfway with ice water.
- Peel the potatoes and shred them on the large holes of a box grater or with the shredding disc of a food processor.
- Place shredded potatoes into ice water and soak for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 425°F with a rack in the center. Spray a mini muffin tin with plenty of cooking spray.
- Drain potatoes well and dry thoroughly between kitchen towels or multiple layers of paper towels.
- Dry the mixing bowl well and place potatoes back into bowl.
- Pour in the oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Mix well to coat evenly.
- Divide potato mixture evenly among mini muffin cups. Press down in the center of each up to create a little well and nudge the potato up the sides a bit. Potato shreds that rise above the lip of each up will get quite brown in the oven — you can decide how much of this you'd like to achieve or avoid depending on your preference.
- Slide pan into oven and bake for 25 minutes, until nests are crisped on the outsides and tender and cooked through on the insides.
- When cool enough to handle, remove nests from pan and fill with marsala mushrooms or other fillings of your choice. Serve hot.
Notes
- Russet or Idaho potatoes are starchy varieties, and that's what you want for this recipe. Starchy potatoes will give you the crisp outsides and tender insides that make great potato nests.
- Safflower oil is my high-smoke-point, neutral-tasting vegetable oil of choice. You can substitute another oil that has similar properties, such as canola, sunflower, peanut, corn, or vegetable oil blend.
- Good old fine sea salt works beautifully — or feel free to go nuts with truffle salt or another seasoned salt. I've called for a fairly generous amount, so consider reducing it if you're sensitive to saltiness.
- Potato nests will keep at cool room temperature if you'd like to make them earlier in the day and reheat and re-crisp in the oven shortly before serving. Or make them up to a few months in advance, freeze on a parchment-lined baking sheet until solid, and then transfer to an airtight container. You can pop them straight from the freezer into the oven to reheat and re-crisp.
- Filled leftovers will keep for a day or so in an airtight container in the fridge.
- You can use a standard muffin tin to make 12 larger nests if you like. There's no need to make additional changes to the recipe.
Nutrition
Calories: 38kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1.9g | Fiber: 0.7g