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Monster mash
Serves: 8
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Lauren Mclean
Monster mash
Serves: 8
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time:
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
486Kcal
Fat
22gr
Saturates
14gr
Carbs
51gr
Sugars
6gr
Fibre
6gr
Protein
17gr
Salt
0.9gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Cookery Workflow Editor, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Cookery Workflow Editor, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Ingredients
- 2 large red onions
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1⁄2 tsp caster sugar
- 2kg floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper, peeled and cut into chunky pieces
- 75g butter
- 175g Swiss Gruyère, finely grated
- 75g extra mature cheddar, finely grated
- 75ml milk, optional
- 125g ready-grated mozzarella
Step by step
Get ahead
The mash will keep warm in a covered pan for about 30 mins. The caramelised onions can be made a few hours ahead then reheated in the oven alongside the ghoul-ash at 150°C, fan 130°C, gas 2, for 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Trim the minimum possible from the root and top of each onion, then cut each into 8 wedges, keeping them attached at the root end. Carefully peel off the skin. Gently mix the onions with the oil, sugar and some seasoning and spread out in a roasting tin. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, turning halfway.
- Meanwhile, add the potatoes to a large pan of salted boiling water and cook for 20-25 minutes until tender. Drain, then return to the pan and mash with the butter and some seasoning. Beat in the Gruyère and cheddar with a wooden spoon, adding some milk if you like your mash to be a softer consistency. Spoon the mash into a warmed dish and stick in the onion wedges. Keep warm.
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For the 'cobwebs', preheat the grill to high and line a baking tray with baking paper. Scatter the mozzarella evenly over the tray. Grill for about 2 minutes or until the cheese has just melted. Don't grill the cheese for too long or it will go past the stringy stage and start to set. Once melted, quickly pick up bits of cheese with a couple of forks and stretch them over the mash and onions so they look like cobwebs. Serve straight away.TipInstead of onion wedges, you can chop up a bunch of spring onions and soften in the 75g butter from the recipe for 5 minutes, then fold into the mash with the cheese.
Chef quote
Cheesy mash is studded with caramelised red onion 'monster claws' and strewn with cobweb-like strings of melted mozzarella.