Olive oil mashed potatoes

We started a tradition. One year ago, a group of us decided to get together for a party on Guy Fawkes day. We had a potluck dinner and celebrated the night with fireworks which was of course, an excuse for the boys to get their hands and matches on double happy and sky rockets. This year, the same group got together again..naturally. So this is how tradition starts. Someone had a good idea and repeated the same thing year after year. And voila! You have a tradition. I suspect if one of us fail to turn up next year, there will be a few words said.

One of our friends from the group is dairy intolerant. It was a chilly night and I wanted to bring a more substantial side. So I got my inspiration from our Italian neighbour who introduced us to potatoes mashed with olive oil. I have always done mashed potatoes with milk and butter or cream but olive oil? This dish is surprisingly smooth and fluffy with a fresh, almost nutty taste. Chopped parsley added an interesting texture to the potatoes. It was overall, Deliziso!

Ingredients:
6 large potatoes
5 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp chopped parsley

Steps:
1. Heat up a pot of water enough to cover the potatoes. Add a teaspoon salt to the boiling water.
2. Peel and cut potatoes into large chunks. Boil them till soft and mushy, about 20 minutes.
3. Finely chop the parsley.
4. Drain potatoes. Put them back into the pot.
5. Add olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and chopped parsley. Mashed potatoes till smooth.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

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