Recipes

COLCANNON WITH SWEET POTATO

And feta, fried sweet onion and roasted hazelnuts

Did you know that 94 percent of the Dutch regularly eat a hearty traditional Dutch stamppot during the winter months? Well, I don't belong to that group. I belong to the other 6% and would rather serve myself a plate of pasta (which has just as many calories). As a little girl, I was the last to leave the table during the winter months; I shamelessly pushed the hutspot and endive mash from side to side for an hour. Usually, my mother eventually gave up and I won the contest. But I did go to bed hungry.

Because my dear colleagues are fans of a plate of mash, I went in search of a recipe that would make me happy. If you've just come off the ice rink, this is what you want to eat tonight.

Ingredients (for four people):

600 grams of sweet potato

350 grams of kale

1 sweet onion

handful of hazelnuts

a bit of butter

200 grams of feta

homemade sambal

Preparation:

1. Peel the sweet potatoes, rinse them well and cut them into wedges. Place the potatoes in the pot and lay the washed kale on top.

2. Add enough water so that the kale is just submerged.

3. Bring to a boil with a pinch of salt, and let it simmer for at least 20 minutes.

4. In the meantime, clean the onion and cut it into half rings.

5. Fry the onion rings golden brown in a bit of butter. Set them aside.

6. Roast the hazelnuts in a dry frying pan.

7. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, drain the pot in a colander. Immediately return the potatoes and kale to the pot and mash it roughly with a potato masher. Add a knob of butter and season with pepper and salt. Stir everything well.

8. Divide the kale mash with sweet potato over the plates and top with the fried onions and hazelnuts. Crumble the feta cheese and sprinkle it on top.

Tip: the mash is extra delicious with a teaspoon of homemade sambal.