Idaho® Potato, Caramelized Leeks and Sausage Pie
Ingredients:
- 1 5-pound bag of organic Idaho® Potatoes
- 4-6 tablespoons Earth Balance Dairy and soy free butter, optional dairy butter
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup non-dairy milk such as almond milk, options dairy or your favorite milk
- 1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt or kosher salt
- 1 leek sliced
- 2 large links diced sweet Italian sausage or sage breakfast sausage
- 1 gluten free pie crust
- Optional: To keep this recipe vegetarian/vegan substitute mushrooms for the sausage.
Directions:
- If you are baking your own crust you should do this first. I made a modified version of Elana’s Pantry tart crust using bacon drippings instead of grape seed oil, which made a flaky and tasty gluten free crust for this pie.
- Next you will want to make the mashed potato filling for the pie. Peel and slice your Organic Idaho® Potatoes into roughly the same size pieces. Place into a large pot of cold filtered water with a pinch of salt. Turn the heat on high and bring to a boil. Let the potatoes boil until they are soft which should take anywhere from 15-25 minutes.
- Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them and put the pot back on to the stove, making sure the stovetop is off. Add the milk and butter to the pot so they can begin to melt and warm. Add the potatoes into the pot by pressing them through a potato ricer. This will create the creamiest and most delicious potato mixture ever. If you don’t have a potato ricer you can use a potato masher. This way may have lumps but that will just make this pie more rustic. Taste and adjust the salt, milk and butter to your liking.
- Add the Organic Idaho® Potatoes to the crust until almost to the top leaving some crust showing so you can add the toppings.
- Time Saving Tip: At this point you can cover and place it into the refrigerator to be finished when ready to serve that day or the following day. If you do this simply place the pie into a 350° F preheated oven for 15 minutes to warm through.
- While the pie is reheating, dice the two links of sausage and toss them into a preheated skillet on medium high. Let them rest in the pan so it will release their flavoring. Once it has browned you can move the sausage around the pan and brown on all sides then remove from the pan but leave the oil.
- As the sausage is cooking prepare your leeks. Cut the large green top off and the bottom root. Slice the leek and separate them into a colander. Run water through them to make sure you get any extra dirt and sand removed. Shake off the water or even dry with a paper towel before tossing them into the same skillet that you cooked the sausage in. Now, let the leeks absorb the flavor left from the sausage and begin to brown and caramelize.
- To finish the pie, sprinkle the leeks over the top of the pie and then the sausage using as much topping as you like. Return the pie to the 350° F preheated oven for 10 - 12 more minutes.
- When the pie is finished, slice into 16 pieces and serve with a side salad.
- Tip: You will most likely have extra mashed potatoes that will not fit into the pie. This is always a good thing in our house. If you are making this the night before you can serve the extra for dinner. You can save the extra for lunch and fry them up into potato patties.
