Giada De Laurentiis (born August 22, 1970) is an Italian-American chef, currently host of the Food Network program Everyday Italian and Behind The Bash. De Laurentiis studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France before becoming a professional ...more.

Mashed potatoes are the easiest dish to make but I don’t usually make it at home. I find it quite boring because it is just mashed potatoes with gravy that’s all! Just like what you eat all the time in KFC.

I was making a roasted chicken dish on one weekend night and I was thinking of a side dish to accompany with the chicken dish. Besides salad I was thinking potatoes. So here I got this potatoes dish from Giada. I thought it was just mashed potatoes, nothing special, but its everything but nothing special. The top part of the mashed potatoes is nice and crispy. That’s makes it different to any mashed potatoes I have tried. And the parmesan cheese sprinkled on top that make it much tastier. I’ve invited a friend over for dinner and he was impressed with the baked potatoes dishes. He asked me what’s make it so crispy on top!

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling salted water until they are very tender, about 15 minutes. Drain; return the potatoes to the same pot and mash well. Mix in the milk and melted butter. Mix in the mozzarella and 3/4 cup of the Parmesan. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Transfer the potatoes to the prepared baking dish. Stir the bread crumbs and remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the mashed potatoes. Recipe can be prepared up to this point 6 hours ahead of time; cover and chill.

Bake, uncovered, until the topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Source : Giada De Laurentiis "Family Dinners"

Recipe

- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
- 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs

SERVES : 6 - 8