Country-Style Mashed Potatoes

Directions
Preparation:20min  ›  Cook:20min  ›  Ready in:40min 

1. Put the potatoes in a saucepan of boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes or until tender. Drain and return to the empty pan. Shake the potatoes in the pan over a low heat until dry. Remove from the heat, cover and keep hot.
2. Sauté the bacon rashers and onion in a non-stick frying pan over a medium– high heat for about 7 minutes or until the bacon rashers are crisp and the onion is browned. Stir in the thyme.
3. While the bacon rashers and onion are cooking, heat the milk and spread in a small saucepan over a medium heat until the spread has melted and the milk is hot and beginning to bubble. Pour over the potatoes. Add pepper to taste, then mash with a potato masher (do not use an electric mixer or food processor). Keep the mash a bit chunky. Stir in the spring onions. Spoon the bacon and onions over the mashed potato, then serve.

Some more ideas…

*Instead of low-fat milk, you could use some of the potato cooking water, salt-reduced chicken or beef stock, buttermilk, low-fat plain yogurt or reduced-fat ricotta cheese.
*Spice up the cooking water by adding peeled cloves of garlic, fresh thyme sprigs, slivers of onion or a grinding of freshly ground black pepper.

Health points

When buying bacon, buy a low-fat version. Some manufacturers make 97% fat-free bacon, which reduces the fat content of the bacon by about 4.5g per 100g compared with short cut bacon.