The recipe for speck and potato baskets is a dish that comes from leftover mashed potatoes from the day before. In short, from leftovers, a really tasty little recipe was born, the crispy speck and the softness of the mash with a gooey center won us over, and I no longer wait for leftover mashed potatoes to bring this delicious dish to the table.
The speck and potato baskets are perfect as an appetizer, you can prepare them in advance and heat them up for a few minutes in the air fryer or oven before serving. Or if you’ve planned a dinner, you can make the mash the day before and store it in the fridge, creating the baskets just before serving.
For this recipe, as you might have guessed, the mash used is homemade, but you can substitute it with boxed mash from the supermarket if you want to do something a bit quicker due to lack of time. Just wait a few minutes for it to cool to add 1 yolk and the rest of the ingredients. With the indicated doses, you can make more than 10 baskets or, as I did, you can keep some to eat just as is.
But let’s prepare these fantastic speck and potato baskets!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 10 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Air Frying, Oven, Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
Ingredients
Ingredients for 10 speck and potato baskets
- 1.76 lbs potatoes
- 3/4 cup milk
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup Grana Padano cheese, grated
- to taste salt and pepper
- to taste nutmeg
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 3.5 oz smoked provola cheese
- 10 slices speck
Tools
What you need to prepare speck and potato baskets
- 1 Pot
- 1 Small Pot
- 1 Hand Blender
- 1 Air Fryer
- 10 Aluminum Cups
Steps
First, prepare the mash by boiling the potatoes after peeling and cutting them into chunks. I steamed them in my air fryer, which is also a multicooker. Once ready, transfer them to a bowl, mashing them immediately while hot with a fork. Pour the milk into a pot, add the mashed potatoes, salt, pepper, and a generous grating of nutmeg, and cook the mash until the potatoes have absorbed all the milk.
Add 3 tbsp of butter and 1/2 cup of Grana Padano. Blend it with the hand blender to make it finer and transfer 3/4 of the mash, once cooled, to a bowl.
At this point, add the yolk, the 3 tbsp of breadcrumbs, and the smoked provola cheese cut into cubes, mixing everything together.
Lightly oil the aluminum cups and insert the speck slices, making them adhere to the walls and covering the base well.
In the center of each cup, pour a few tablespoons of mash, level the mixture, and transfer them to the baking tray or directly to the air fryer basket.
Cook at 356°F (180°C) for 10 minutes or until the speck is crispy and the mash is browned, and your baskets are ready. Serve them warm.
