Mashed Potato Stuffing (Virgin islands)

Don't let this Virgin Islands side dish miss your dinner table this Thanksgiving. This Caribbean spin on potato stuffing uses white sweet potatoes that are boiled and mashed into a smooth consistency with raisins, vegetables and seasoning.

One of the things I LOVE about blogging the most is creating recipes from different Caribbean islands.

Believe me when you're a Caribbean foodie the culinary adventures don't just stop at your own island, you extend it to exploring others.

In this case I headed straight over to our brothers and sisters in the Virgin Islands with a dish called potato stuffing.

**Just to clarify the dish is called potato stuffing BUT title says "MASHED". I put mashed at the beginning because this helps to bring the post up in Google search hence making it visible**

What is Caribbean potato stuffing?

First of all let me just clarify something, you don't actually stuff the potato into meat or otherwise.

I know it sounds strange and contradicts the recipe name but we should respect one's culture even if it's not quite understood.

Now that I've cleared that up, you're probably wondering what purpose does this dish serve then? Good question!

Well potato stuffing is more or less a traditional side dish. The dish originates from the Caribbean and it's very popular in the Virgin Islands.

There is no fixed recipe for this stuffing, every household tweaks the ingredients a bit.

However, the stuffing typically contains potatoes, raisins, onions, sugar, and tomato paste along with other varied ingredients.

The potatoes are boiled then mashed and combined together with the other ingredients (some of which are sauteed) the mixture is transferred into an oven proof dish where it is baked.

The potato stuffing is usually served during the holiday season for Thanksgiving or Christmas along side the main course.

Reasons to make this dish

• This stuffing is vegan friendly and grain free.
• The perfect recipe for the holidays i.e Thanksgiving/Christmas.
• It's very easy to prepare.
• A great side dish for family gatherings or hosting a dinner party.
• It's Caribbean, The Virgin Islands to be precise, what's not to love.
• Uses sweet potatoes not regular potatoes for a healthier spin

Ingredients you need

• Sweet potatoes - These are the Caribbean sweet potatoes as pictured below with the red skin and white flesh, they aren't as sweet as their orange counterpart but still naturally sweet and nutritionally dense.
• Vegan butter - adds flavour especially when you are mashing the potato!
• Olive oil - for sauteing the minced vegetables
• Onion, garlic, bell peppers and celery - It's best to mince these ingredients so they are incorporated into the stuffing quite smoothly with no chunky pieces.
• Tomato paste - used to add colour, gives your stuffing that signature red hue.
• Coconut sugar - a low GI sweetener, used to add a subtle hint of sweetness.
• Raisins - some people leave this out but it compliments the dish.
• Thyme, parsley, black pepper, pink salt and cinnamon - these are all used as flavour enhancers.

The use of Caribbean red skinned sweet potatoes

When I first tasted this recipe I instantly fell in love with it, I love my tubers however I'm not a fan of white potato which is what is traditionally used.

The reason why I don't eat white potatoes is because of how quickly it spikes the blood sugar levels in comparison to sweet potatoes

If you been following my journey you will notice that I rotate between red skinned and orange sweet potatoes.

I use them in my Sweet Potato Cornbread, Potato Bread along with my Creamy Mashed Potatoes.

As previously mentioned the subsequent release of glucose is significantly higher compared to sweet potatoes and this is something to be mindful of especially if you are of African heritage where high blood pressure is a growing concern.

Sometimes traditional recipes, don't have our best interests at heart so it is important to seek out healthier options where possible.

I used white sweet potatoes (see above) rather then the orange ones, because they're not as sweet as the aforementioned, they make a great healthy substitute without compromising the taste.

I also enhanced the sweetness with coconut sugar rather than white or brown sugar which hold no nutritional valve.

If you have been following my recipes for a while then you will know that I'm a huge fan of low GI sweeteners and coconut sugar certainly qualifies.

This recipe doesn't require much prep work, the vegetables listed only require pureeing and sauteing in the pan.

If you like chunky pieces of veg by all means, roughly chop them, however in my humble opinion I think pureeing the veggies really helps to bring out the flavour.

The steps

• Preheat the oven to 180C/356F.
• Roughly chop the potato into chunks before adding them to a large pot of water. Add enough water to the pot so that all the potatoes are completely submerged in water.
• Drain off the excess water and use a potato masher/immersion stick blender to break down the potato chunks into mash and incorporate the butter (you can use some almond milk if you want to make it creamy).
• On medium heat add the olive oil and begin to saute the onion and garlic for 30 seconds.

• Quickly add the bell peppers, celery and raisins and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the coconut sugar, tomato paste, thyme, black pepper, salt to your taste and cinnamon. The contents in the frying pan should take on a red hue.
• Pour the sauteed ingredients in with the mash potatoes and use a folding technique to ensure the fruit and vegetables are fully incorporated, note the potato should be a subtle red hue.
• Transfer the potato stuffing into an oven proof dish, using a knife or the back of a large spoon to evenly distribute the mixture, it should resemble a deep pie.
• Bake in the oven until golden brown (this should take 30-45 minutes)

Notes and tips

• While the potatoes are boiling I recommended sauteing the rest of the ingredients to cut down on the cooking time.
• You can peel the potatoes the day before and have the ingredients ready ahead of time.
• Red skinned sweet potatoes can be found in any market/supermarket in a neighbourhood that has a high percentage of African/Caribbean/Asian and Latinos.
• You can use a splash of almond milk to help breakdown the potatoes if you want to
• I recommend using white sweet potatoes (use the orange ones if you can't get white ones) and coconut sugar because they don't raise blood sugar levels very quickly.
• You can omit using any sugar since sweet potatoes are naturally sweet.
• Use can used dried thyme if you don't have any thyme to hand.
• Any leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
• Do a taste test of the stuffing once all of the ingredients are incorporated together.  You may want to add something else i.e more thyme, more tomato, black pepper etc...

More thanksgiving recipes to try

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