The Italian Meat That Giada De Laurentiis Adds To Mashed Potatoes

Giada de Laurentiis has a new spin on traditional mashed potatoes that will turn heads at any dinner party. The celebrity chef adds prosciutto to her potatoes to give a sweet and salty richness to buttery mash. "Prosciutto" means "dried ham" in Italian and is sourced from the pig's hind leg. The meat is heavily salted before being dry-aged in a temperature-controlled environment for over a year. Salt curing and aging prevent bacteria growth and preserve the meat. Once fully cured, it is usually sold in thin slices that are ready to eat with no cooking required. To make de Laurentiis's mashed potatoes, you can add the prosciutto to your dish after the potatoes have been cooked and mashed.

The briny flavor of the prosciutto added to the silky mash brings a real boost of intense flavor and some extra crunch. While you might have experimented with bacon mash before, bacon is actually quite different from prosciutto as it comes from the pig belly rather than the legs. Bacon is also cured but the meat remains raw and needs to be cooked before serving. So, adding prosciutto instead of bacon actually eliminates a cooking step, although you can certainly crisp up your prosciutto for a few minutes on the stove (a step de Laurentiis recommends).

Known for her classic yet quirky kitchen style, the cured meat is only one part of Giada de Laurentiis's recipe for enhanced mashed potatoes. She also replaces half the potatoes with sweet potatoes and adds vanilla seeds, lemon zest, and browned butter. The vanilla seeds and lemon zest are two ingredients that may give traditional cooks pause. Try it. The combination of ingredients will surprise you.

While they may seem odd, these additional ingredients are an extension of the salty sweetness of the prosciutto. The lemon zest offers some bite, the vanilla amps up the sweet potato element, and the browned butter brings depth that further complements the rich flavor of the prosciutto. For some cooks, however, the additional ingredients may push traditional mashed potatoes' limits. In those cases, adding the prosciutto to your traditional mashed potato recipe is also safe. (It's really not that much of a stretch though if you have ever added bacon to the dish.) Sprinkling some prosciutto through your mash will add a little salty, sweet touch to every bite. Some brands of cured ham also come pre-seasoned with herbs, adding a little hint of Italian flavor to your traditional American food.