Tasty potato balls for an appetizer or a side dish, today I prepared them as a main dish for dinner served with a sauce, truly delightful, perfect for snacking in front of the TV. I tried cooking them in an air fryer, or fried, the latter are definitely top, so the choice is yours knowing that if you make them fried they are definitely much better, and let’s also remember that eating good fried food every now and then is also good for our health, it helps keep our liver and all other organs fit. Preparing the potato balls, which are also beautiful to bring to the table, is very simple, we need boiled potatoes passed through a potato masher and seasoned with herbs and spices, varying each time depending on the taste we want to give our balls, for example this time I used parsley and spicy paprika, but to these ingredients I always add plenty of grated cheese and can’t miss potato starch or cornstarch, suitable both for those intolerant to gluten and for those who are not. So let’s see how to prepare them.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 25 pieces
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for Potato Balls
- 1.1 lbs potatoes, with skin, cooked, boiled
- 2/3 cup potato starch
- 1/3 cup Grana Padano DOP
- to taste parsley
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 1/2 tsp spicy paprika
- to taste oil for frying (sunflower oil)
Tools for Preparing Potato Balls
- 1 Potato Masher
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Teaspoon
- 1 Pot
- 1 Pan
- 1 Fork
- 1 Tray
- 1 Paper Towels
Steps to Prepare Potato Balls
First, cook the potatoes with the skin in a pot covered with water, cook for about 30-40 minutes from boiling, until they are soft.
Drain the cooked potatoes, let them cool for 5 minutes, then cut in half, put them in the potato masher, from the cut side and mash, without even peeling them, the skin remains in the potato masher. For each potato, clean the potato masher of the skin.
Obtain at least 14 oz of potato puree, place in a bowl and spread a little to cool quickly.
Prepare a parsley mince, add it to the cooled potatoes, with the salt, paprika, cheese, and potato starch.
Mix by hand or with a fork to obtain a homogeneous mixture, and let it cool completely.
Take the cold mixture and form balls with a teaspoon of mixture at a time. Work well to obtain smooth and uniform balls.
Fry in plenty of hot oil in a high-sided non-stick pot or a high-sided pan, until they are completely golden on all sides. To brown them on all sides without turning them individually, just shake the pot from time to time so that all the balls rotate simultaneously. Dry on paper towels as soon as ready. Ideally, consume them immediately, crispy hot and accompanied with a good sauce, perhaps a homemade mayonnaise.
They can also be cooked in an air fryer, sprayed with oil, for 8 minutes at 356°F, turning them occasionally, but fried are definitely something else, even from an aesthetic point of view.
