When it is cold and snowy outside, I always crave old-school Dutch dishes like this traditional stamppot. I grew up eating things like stamppot and splitpea soup during winter, and they will continue to be staples in my home. Meals that are wholesome plus easy to make, I think I will always keep making.
Translating ‘stamppot’ is easy, because it literally translates as stamp pot….because you ‘stamp’ (i.e. mash) everything together in one pot! This traditional Dutch ‘stamppot’ is kind of a coarse potato mash with kale, crispy bacon bits and Dutch smoked sausage on the side. Children love to help “stamping” everything together, so if you have kids, include them in this bit of the cooking process.
The base is the potato mash with kale, and everything else is up to you. This dish is easily varied, so if you like to experiment with your cooking, stamppot is perfect. If you want to make this dish vegan, you can easily do that. And if you don’t have the Dutch smoked sausage, you can easily omit it or use a different kind of sausage.
If you have any leftovers, just put it in the fridge in an airtight container and you can use them up the next day. Take the stamppot and form patties with your hands and fry them in a little oil until warm or a bit of colour starts to form. Serve as is, with a salad on the side or use these patties on a burger bun with mustard and gherkins. Yum and nothing goes to waste!
I harvested home-grown kale when the snow had melted enough for me to dare to go out into the garden. I took the entire plant out, cut off the leaves and composted the stem. I didn’t weigh the kale, because I don’t measure this recipe, but the ratio of kale and potato should be about 50-50. So if you have 4 cups of kale, take about the same amount of potatoes. Don’t worry, it is easy and it does not have to be exact. You can play with the ratios to your hearts content.
Now let’s go into the kitchen and make this traditional Dutch Stamppot!
Traditional Dutch Stamppot
Equipment
- cooking pan
- frying pan
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Spatula
- potato masher (or fork)
Ingredients
- 1 head kale
- 1-1.5 kg potatoes
- 150-200 grams smoked bacon
- 25 grams butter
- 1 splash (oat) milk
- 1 (Dutch smoked) sausage
- salt to taste (I used about 3 pinches, potatoes can take a lot of salt)
Instructions
- Cut up the potatoes in pieces of about 1-2 cm thick. Leave the skin on if you like. I always do, because there are good nutrients in the skins
- Cook potatoes in water until soft. (When using the Dutch smoked sausage, cook it in the potato water as well and remove before "stamping" or mashing)
- Meanwhile, cut up your smoked bacon into bits and bake them in a frying pan without any oil. The fat from the bacon will render so you won't need any oil
- When the bacon is crispy, take it out of the pan and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan
- Remove the stems from the kale leaves (save those stems to put into a smoothie or stew), cut the leaves into small pieces and add them to the hot bacon fat
- Be careful! As the water in the kale leaves makes them splash and splutter all over
- Fry until the leaves have wilted down. Drain the potatoes and remove the Dutch smoked sausage, if you are using that.
- Put the pot of potatoes on the kitchen bench and add in the kale, together with all the bacon fat, the butter and a splash of (oat)milk and start "stamping" or mashing everything together until a coarse potato mash forms. Taste and see if it needs salt, if so, add to taste and stir together
- Put on a plate, sprinkle the crispy bacon bits on top and add some sliced (Dutch smoked) sausage
- I like to eat this with a dollop of mustard on the side. Enjoy!
