Stamppot — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Mashed potatoes mixed with kale (boerenkool), sauerkraut, or other vegetables, served with a smoked beef sausage (rookworst) and gravy. The ultimate Dutch winter comfort food.

Ingredients

1kg floury potatoes such as Maris Piper, peeled and quartered
500g curly kale, stems removed and leaves roughly chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 tbsp butter
150ml warm milk
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Gravy: 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp flour, 400ml beef broth, 1 tbsp soy sauce, pepper
Smoked turkey sausage (rookworst) for serving

Instructions

1 Place the quartered potatoes in a large pot of cold salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a steady simmer and cook for twenty minutes until the potatoes are completely tender and a knife slides through without resistance. While the potatoes cook, prepare the kale.
2 Bring a separate pot of salted water to a boil. Add the chopped kale and blanch for five minutes until tender but still vibrant green. Drain thoroughly and press out as much excess water as possible using the back of a spoon against a colander. Soggy kale will make the stamppot watery.
3 Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for eight minutes until deeply golden and sweet. The caramelized onion adds essential sweetness and depth to the finished dish that raw onion cannot provide.
4 Drain the cooked potatoes and return them to the hot pot. Add the butter and warm milk, then mash vigorously with a potato masher until smooth and fluffy. Season generously with salt and pepper. The mash should be slightly looser than normal as the kale will absorb some moisture.
5 Fold the blanched, well-drained kale and the caramelized onions into the mashed potatoes using a large spoon or spatula. Stir until evenly distributed throughout. The kale should remain in visible pieces, creating the characteristic green-flecked appearance of boerenkool stamppot.
6 For the gravy, melt the butter in a small saucepan, whisk in the flour for two minutes, then gradually add the beef broth while whisking. Add soy sauce and pepper, simmer for five minutes until thickened. Serve the stamppot in a mound on warm plates with smoked turkey sausage alongside and a generous well of gravy in the centre.