Mashed Potato Leftovers

OK, leftover time. Everyone tries to find something to do with the turkey and there are a lot of good ideas. Pazole or other soups, casseroles, and pot pies. The lowly mashed potato usually get short shrift.

A great use for left over mashed potatoes is potato pancakes or in German, kartoffelpuffer. The basic recipe is just the potatoes, egg, flour and (sometimes) onion but I am kind of a fan of cheese as well and the kind of cheese is flexible. I like cheddar, Le Gruyere, pepper jack or even ricotta or cottage cheese.

Basic potato pancake

3 cups chilled leftover mashed potatoes
2-3 Tbsp chopped shallot, onion or scallion(green and white parts) if using
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 Tbsp flour plus 1/2 cup flour for dredging
Extra virgin olive oil, butter, for pan-frying

If you are adding cheese then make it about 2/3s cup of you favorite shredded cheese.

In a large bowl, stir together the mashed potatoes, cheese if using, onion, shallot or scallions, egg and 3 tablespoons flour until combined.  Using a small ice cream scoop, tablespoon or your hands, divide the mixture into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a small ball then flatten it into a pancake about a 1/2-inch-thick.

Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter  in a large sauté pan over medium heat. (Add enough oiland butter to completely coat the bottom of the pan.)

While your oil is heating put the remaining 1/2 cup of flour in to a shallow bowl and dredge each pancake, carefully coating each side.

Fry the pancakes, in batches, until they're golden brown and crispy on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes. Add more oil and butter to the pan as needed between batches.  Resist the temptation to turn the pancakes too soon, you want a nice crisp crust. Transfer the pancakes to a paper towel-lined plate and immediately sprinkle them with salt.

Serve the potato pancakes topped with plain Greek yogurt or sour cream and garnished with additional chopped shallot, onion or scallions.

This will make 12 pancakes.

Note: Depending on the mashed potatoes you may need an extra egg if they are very dry or a bit more flour if they are overly wet to start with.  Also, if you are using a wet cheese like cottage then a bit more flour is needed.