Mashed Swede
Swede boiled until tender and mashed with butter, black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg, a sweet, earthy side for roast dinners.
Photograph credit: Coarsely Mashed Carrot and Rutabaga by Craig Dugas · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Flickr · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Where This Goes Wrong
Steam the swede dry before mashing.
Add the butter in pieces.
Mash with an equal weight of carrots for a sweeter dish.
Cooking Mashed Swede
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Put the swede in a pan, cover with cold water, add the salt and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until completely tender.
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Drain well and return the swede to the hot pan over a low heat for 2 minutes to steam dry.
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Add the butter, pepper and nutmeg and mash until smooth or as coarse as you like. Taste and adjust.
What's Going On Here
Is swede a boring vegetable? Only if it is boiled until it is wet and then mashed without any thought. Cooked well, it is sweet, peppery and a little earthy, and with butter it is the best partner a Sunday roast can have.
Peel it generously. The skin of a swede is thick and waxy, and the layer just beneath it is tough and fibrous. Cut the flesh into 3 cm cubes so they cook evenly. Boil in salted water for 20 minutes, until a knife slides in without resistance. Drain well, and return the swede to the hot pan for 2 minutes. The steam that escapes means a drier, richer mash.
Mash with butter first, then season. A potato masher gives a rustic texture; a ricer or electric whisk gives a smoother, silkier one. Swede holds a lot of water, so let it steam dry before it meets the butter, or the mash will be sloppy.
Black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg are the traditional seasonings. A spoonful of cream or a few dashes of white pepper work well. In Scotland it is served as neeps beside haggis, and in Cornwall it goes into pasties.
Storage and Reheating
Keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat with a splash of milk.
Good With
- Roast beef
- Sausages
- Haggis
- Roast chicken
What's in a Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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