Making rustic mashed potatoes is actually easier than making other types of mashed potatoes. It’s been an increasing “food trend” in recent years as TV chefs tried to make their meals a little bit different to the last guy’s. But, to be honest, they’re running out of ways to be different…. so rustic mash has become a “smart people’s food”, whereas, in my world, it’s the lazy man’s mashed potatoes!
To make any form of mash you need to cook your potatoes until they’re no longer hard, then mash them up. You might mash them with nothing, or the bare minimum, all the way up to using potato ricers and adding thick cream.
So, even simple and easy mashed potatoes became “hard” to do if you cared what the latest trends were up to. So, below is an easy rustic mashed potato recipe
Ingredients:
- Potatoes
- Optional: salt/pepper, butter, milk, cream
- Optional Presentation items: chopped chives, crispy fried onions
Method: 
- Cook your potatoes until they’re soft throughout. Drain them and put into a bowl. You don’t even have to have peeled them first if you don’t wish to – that’s all part of the rustic mash charm. I always cook potatoes in the microwave in 12-15 minutes.
- Add any of your optional items, if you wish – I simply add a knob of butter per 250 grams of potatoes and a sprinkling of black pepper.
- Using a simple potato masher, or even just a fork, roughly chop the potatoes up until they’re at the stage where you like the look of them.
- Put the rustic mash into your serving dish and sprinkle chopped chives, or crispy fried onions, or just a little parsley over the top, if you wish. That part’s entirely optional.
Serve with your usual meals, in the same way you’d use any other mashed potato – that’s all it is, just mashed potato but mashed roughly! Nothing more. In the photo I’ve served my rustic mash with a pasty and gravy.