It was quite common to mash up your leftover potatoes with other vegetables during the war. One example of this is ‘bubble and squeak’.
To use up the last few potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips and swedes that maybe past their best in the larder, they were often scrubbed clean and chopped up into small pieces and boiled together until soft then mashed up with margarine/butter and lots of salt and pepper. To make it even better the mash could be put into a pie dish and browned in an oven.
Through trial and error, for my personal taste I like to make my root vegetable mash with 50% potatoes and then whatever I have left cooked in with it. I really like a parsnip added to root vegetable mash as it gives it an extra flavour boost!
Root Vegetable Mash
Ingredients (I used quadruple the amount below)
Potatoes (2 medium per person)
Parsnip ( 1 medium per person)
Carrots (1 medium per person)
Butter/Margarine
Salt and Pepper
Extras: Some chopped and sauted garlic, fresh thyme and/or chives add a nice touch.
Method
Chop up the scrubbed vegetables and boil until soft in water.
Drain, add salt and pepper, add butter (or dairy free margarine if vegan) and a drop of milk (I use organic oat milk) and mash until you achieve the consistency you like.
Place mixture in large pie dish or two small ones.
Brown in oven.
Serves 4
https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.jsWell done
R Wheeler
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Thank you Ron….just making sure I’m using up everything rather than it go to waste!
would you serve this as an accompanying dish or on its own please
Whatever takes your fancy! 🙂 Personally I’d serve it with something else and maybe a little gravy xx
comfort food at its best, and using up your leftovers great recipe going to do this tonight thanks Carolyn and good to see new recipes 🙂
after hearing about your weekly veg box, have taken the plunge and ordered myself one 🙂 x
I know you can buy non organic from the stores much cheaper but to me investing in freshly picked and mostly British veg that has been organically grown just makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing for my body and my psyche….hope you enjoy yours xxx
lol im sure i will, i have ordered the bumper box just hope the kids like eating veg everyday with everything 🙂 xx
Ooooooo yum! 🙂 I order the large every week just for myself although I do make a couple of communal dishes with it too….I’d say 60 percent minimum of my diet is veg so eat a lot! My box comes on a Wednesday…when will yours come? Xxx
Carolyn I make something similar that my friend in The Netherlands told me about. Potatoes, an onion, turnip, carrot and a by leaf. My family gobbles this up!
Great recipe idea. I will try this. Thanks for sharing.
Just made this last night to accompany a 1940s diner meatloaf recipe and it was DELICIOUS. Both the fresh thyme and the parsnips really added a delicious flavor and kept the carrots from overwhelming the potatoes. It was also a nice change from the usual homemade mashed potatoes (not that there’s anything wrong with those of course!) Plus, it let me use up some older potatoes and two stray carrots in the refrigerator.
I was even able to make it stretch further! Today, I thought of using the leftovers to accompany sandwiches, but there wasn’t enough of it for two servings. I had some leftover half and half and whipping cream in the refrigerator (not enough of either to do anything), so I heated the leftovers, added a touch more of the thyme and a bit more of the garlic sauteed in a knob of butter, stirred in the half and half and whipping cream (I had just enough to make it loose and liquid) and then ran it all through my food processor to make a smooth soup. I added a dash of salt and white pepper and turned it back in to heat through.
I had enough for two respectable bowls and it was absolutely delicious. Let’s hear it for using the leftovers and the fridge odds and ends! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!
There is so much you can do with leftovers and one of the best things is mashing it!! 🙂 Sounds great!! xx
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I remember this, and several other of your recipes from my mothers cooking in the 1960s. I didn’t realise I was eating wartime recipes! Thanks for bringing them back to me.