- 4 pounds potatoes
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter. Use real butter. Please.
- 2 cups milk
- salt
- white pepper. White pepper keeps the potatoes looking, well, white and much more appealing than black pepper.
- 1 package (8 oz) shredded Mozzarella cheese -- and this is your secret ingredient.
A Kitchenaid or other electric mixer helps greatly with this recipe. There is a LOT of stirring to get the right texture.
Peel, slice, and boil the potatoes. In the meantime, melt the butter and warm the milk until both are warm to the touch.
Once potatoes are tender when stabbed, remove from heat, pour, and drain. Blend or mash JUST the potatoes--do not add liquid--until they're as smooth as you can get them. Then add about 2/3 each of the butter and milk. Add a generous portion of salt and a smaller one of white pepper. Be careful with the white pepper, as it's easy to over-season since you can't see it in the mix like you can with black pepper. Blend until all liquid is mixed in and potatoes are smooth.
Now comes the tedious part. You're going to add the cheese, handful by handful. I keep the mixer running and throw in a clump at a time. Just be careful. Wait until what you just added has blended, then add more until you've added all the cheese. Now add the remaining milk and butter. Blend until smooth. Taste, and adjust salt and pepper. If they're too thick, heat some more milk and add it. If they're too dry, heat some more butter and add it. When you're satisfied with the taste, blend until the mixture seems to "grow" like bread dough--this is air being folded into the potatoes. Stop when they look whipped.
The texture will be "stickier" than normal mashed potatoes. They may look "gluey" like a bad batch of normal taters, but if you've done them right when you actually taste them, they are light and very fluffy.