Purple Potatoes with Blue Cheese

How do you marry an 8,000 year old root from South America with a cheese from France or Italy? I’m talking about purple potatoes and blue cheese (or gorgonzola).

Both foods are sexy and have a story. The rumor is that blue cheese was discovered in a cave after a young man left his curds and whey for romantic flight. When he returned four days later, the cave possessed just the right amount of damp and dark,  and he was thrilled to find blue cheese.

The purple potatoes have been around for over 8000 years flourishing in the Andean regions of Peru, Bolivia and Equador. Unlike white potatoes, they contain anthocyanin, an antioxidant that boosts the immune system and may prevent certain cancers.  Some farmers have found a way to make purple potatoes in America as purple food is becoming ever so popular. Watch out for purple carrots, purple cauliflower, purple sweet potatoes and all sorts of purple cabbages and lettuce.

Spinach Tiger loves her greens, but purple foods are majestic when it comes to nutrition.

How do you cook them, you ask?  The same way you would make white potatoes, but let’s have a little fun.

These were little gems of potatoes and perfect for a party. I bought these the same week I received the Roquefort from Ile de France. It seemed natural that they should meet.

The Process

I kept the recipe fairly simple.  I simply roasted and removed them from the skin, while still warm. I mixed the potatoes with a little butter, tiny bit of hot milk and sour cream, and a big squeeze of lemon, some salt, pepper and placed them back in their skins. I topped with crumbled blue cheese and rebaked until the cheese was melted. Top with sour cream.

You could take this in many directions,  replacing blue cheese with Cheddar or Gruyere, adding dill or rosemary adding bacon, or chives etc.

I was surprised that the potatoes were different colors, ranging from lavender to sapphire blue to deep purple. I mixed all of them up in one bowl to get one uniform color, but it could have been fun to put out a different colored tray.

After the potatoes are mixed, they are put back into their shells.

Top with blue cheese. You can see you don’t need a lot.

Top with sour cream and a special herb or sea salt. I used Nori Sea Salt.

Other Purple Potato Recipes You Might Enjoy:

Lemon Dijon Roasted Purple Potatoes with Shallots

Purple Potato Frittata

Herby Purple Potatoes  from the Purple Foodie

Purple Smashed Potatoes from Food Wanderings

Blue Cheese and Bacon Purple Potatoes from Eat Drink Smile

Purple Potatoes with Blue Cheese

 

Recipe type: Appetizer

Serves: 6

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Print

 

Recipe for appetizer of blue cheese stuffed purple potatoes.

Ingredients

• Recipe for Purple Potatoes with Blue Cheese
• 6 Small purple potatoes
• ¼ cup sour cream, plus more for garnish
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• juice ½ lemon
• 2 tablespoons blue cheese
• sea salt, pepper
• nori sea salt (optional)

Instructions

1. Roast potatoes at 400 degrees until done (about 20 - 30 minutes) depending on size
2. Cut in half and scoop out flesh of potato. Mix with butter, sour cream, salt, pepper, lemon juice.
3. Put back into shells. Top with blue cheese. Bake until the blue cheese is melted.
4. Dress with dollop of sour cream. I topped with nori sea salt, an option).

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