PERUVIAN POTATOES WITH MANCHEGO CHEESE
These beautiful potatoes come in blue and purple, and begin to appear in American stores in spring. Either color will work for this recipe and correspondence to Nuit.
Ingredients:
12 blue or purple potatoes
½ pound Manchego cheese, grated
¼ cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon fresh dill, chopped
½ teaspoon sea salt
Directions:
Wash the potatoes and steam for 15 minutes. This won’t take long because they are small. Check to see if they are cooked all the way through by cutting one in half, lengthwise. Do not overcook them. When done, blanch them in cold water, drain and dry. Cut them all in half lengthwise. Scoop out the insides of each half potato with a spoon, leaving at least a ½” around the edge next to the skin. Put the potato filling into a bowl, add the milk, butter, dill and salt, and combine until smooth. Mix in the grated cheese and stuff the potato halves. Fit them into a lightly buttered baking dish and bake in a 350°F (180°C) oven for 15 minutes. Serve with fresh dill.
Correspondences:
Peruvian potatoes are naturally blue and purple, like Nuit’s sky, but taste like regular potatoes and are earth of water. The butter and milk are of water. The fresh dill is of air.
