Recipe: Buca di Beppo Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Posted By:Adam
Amber wanted some Garlic Mashed Potatoes to go with dinner last night and came across a recipe to make Buca di Beppo Garlic Mashed Potatoes. For those of you not familiar with Buca’s it is a chain of Italian Restaurants started in Minneapolis, MN. They have a great atmosphere and awesome food. Which brings me back to the potatoes, one thing I learned from repeated visits to Buca’s is the importance of garlic mashed potatoes to Italian cooking.
The recipe we found comes from “Into the Sauce: From Our Cucina to Your Kitchen” a cookbook put out by Buca’s back in 2000-2001 (we will come back to the book in a moment), more specifically I got the recipe from this site. For those of you too lazy to check that site here is the recipe:
- 2 pounds red-skinned potatoes, with skins on
- 1/4 cup finely chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup grated Pecorino Roman cheese
- 1/2 cup butter, semisoft and cut into pieces
Wash the potatoes and place in a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook until the potatoes are tender (about 20-25 minutes). While the potatoes are cooking, saute the chopped garlic in olive oil (just enough to take away the crunch). Drain potatoes and transfer to large bowl of electric mixer. Add rest of ingredients and mix, using a metal whisk attachment, until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Add more butter to reach desired consistency.
The italicized portions of the recipe are my additions.
The recipe turned out great, very true to the potatoes served at Buca’s. This got me very interested in the book that this recipe came from, so I went to good old Amazon and found to my surprise that not only is the book out of print but the copies that do exist sell for around $200. I am a big fan a Buca’s, but I am not sure what makes a cookbook worth $200+. Seeing how the book retailed for $24.95 at Buca’s the lesson I learned here is if Buca’s puts out a new book I will buy one for myself and a few hundred to pay for my retirement.
