Live the Live ™

It’s hard to improve on buttery, creamy mashed potatoes, but I think this recipe does just that. Like with pasta carbonara, you add pork, egg yolks, and Parmesan cheese to take this to another level.

The classic pasta carbonara uses guanciale, which is cured pork cheeks. Many recipes call for pancetta instead (which is the cured but unsmoked belly of the pig.) But since I cure my own guanciale, this was a no-brainer.

Egg yolks are stirred into the warm pasta in carbonara, and are cooked simply from the heat from the pasta. Here, I stir the egg yolks into the mashed potatoes, but then they go back in the oven to cook more.

And all too often, the phrase “Parmesan cheese” is used in recipes. That opens the floodgates to some truly horrendous cheeses, including the non-refrigerated stuff on the supermarket shelf that is 50% sawdust! There is only one King of Cheeses: Parmigiano Reggianio. Look for it, ask for it, pay the price. It’s worth every penny.

3 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks
6 oz. guanciale, finely chopped
3/4 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, brought to room temperature, separated
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover them with cold water. Bring them to a boil, and then cook them until they’re fork-tender. Drain the potatoes in a colander and let them dry out a little, about 10 minutes. Then place the potatoes back in the pot.

Cook the guanciale in a non-stick pan over medium heat, stirring often, until the bits are golden brown and crispy. Transfer the cooked guanicale bits to paper towels to absorb the excess fat.

To the pot with the potatoes, add the cheese, the cream, the nutmeg (I always have whole nutmeg around to grate into my rum drinks!), 6 tablespoons of the butter, and some salt and pepper. Get out the old potato masher and mash away until the potatoes are smooth.

In a separate small bowl, whisk together the whole egg and the 2 egg yolks, then add them to the pot with the potatoes, and stir until they are well combined.

Add in all but about 1 tablespoon of the guanciale, mixing well.

Grab your favorite baking dish, and pour in the mashed potatoes, smoothing them out to make them look nice. (We originally tried piping some of the potatoes with a pastry bag, but it kept getting clogged with the guanciale and we gave up!)

Sprinkle the remaining guanciale on top of the potatoes and place the baking dish in the oven.

Bake until the potatoes are golden around the edges, about 30 minutes.

Chop up the remaining 2 oz. of butter and scatter it over the top of the potatoes, letting the butter melt in while the potatoes cool.