Baked Mashed Potatoes with Parmesan Cheese and Bread Crumbs

Ummm... can we say delicious?

I'm not one to go all out on side dishes for dinner, I'm content with a baked potato or rice, but I saw this recipe while I was watching Food Network one day and saw how easy it was and wanted to make it. I planned on make it for Saturday night for our Sunday School Christmas party. Hubby ended up not feeling great, so we didn't go, but I still wanted to make it. Glad I did.

It's cheesy, but not overly cheesy, a little crunchy (I love a little crunch) and quick to put together. It was a hot and delicious side dish for us to enjoy, a special treat.

Baked Mashed Potatoes with Parmesan Cheese and Bread Crumbs- modified from Giada de Laurentiis

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Ingredients:

nonstick cooking spray

4 pounds of russet potatoes, peeled and chopped (about 14 small to medium size potatoes)

1 cup milk (I used 2% and a little heavy cream; the recipe called for whole but I don't keep that around)

1 stick butter, melted

1.5 cups mozzarella cheese

1 cup parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp plain dry bread crumbs

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Peel and chop potatoes and cook in a large pot of boiling salt water for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender; drain.

2. Return potatoes to pot and mash well. Mix in milk and melted butter, mozzarella cheese and 3/4 cup of the parmesan cheese (reserve 1/4 cup for topping). Season with salt and pepper.

3. Place potato mixture into greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle the bread crumbs and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese on top of mashed potatoes.

3. Stir bread crumbs and 1/4 cup reserved parmesan cheese and sprinkle

4. Bake, uncovered, for about 20 minutes, until topping is golden brown.

This is a great make-ahead recipe and can be refrigerated up to 6 hours.

Serves 6-10 people

The Verdict:

Um, awesome. It had that classic mashed potato taste, but with some extra cheesy goodness. We loved the topping and I upped the bread crumbs from 2 to 3 Tbsp, because we like an extra crunch. It was a great change from mashed potatoes and was warm and yummy on this chilly night.