Amsterdam Recipe: Hutspot

Brad's delivers his verdict.

Stampot is a Dutch comfort food that consists of potatoes mashed together with other vegetables and typically topped with some kind of meat (meatballs, sausage, or stewed beef). The name given to the dish varies with the vegetables used in the mash. Some common versions are:

Boerenkoolstamppot (with kale)

Zuurkoolstamppot (with sauerkraut)

Spruitjesstamppot (with brussels sprouts)

Hutspot (with onion and carrot)

Hutspot is the only one I can pronounce, and is also the only one Brad would eat, so that makes it our featured recipe from our time in Amsterdam!

Celebrate Leidens Ontzet!

Hutspot also has the best origin story of the stampot family. During the 80 years war, the Spanish laid siege to the Dutch town of Leiden for an entire year. On October 3, 1574, the Dutch resistance finally drove the Spaniards away and liberated the city. It is said that the Spanish soldiers left behind an unfamiliar stew of potatoes, carrots, and meat. The siege-weary citizens gobbled the stew down, and it became a symbol of their victory. Leidens Ontzet, or the anniversary of the town's liberation, is still celebrated in Leiden every October 3rd with Hutspot and lots of booze.

For my version of Hutspot, I went with a chicken sausage meat topper. I adopted the idea of adding gravy over the whole dish from another Hutspot recipe I found because, well, gravy! Cooking in Airbnb kitchens comes with its own set of challenges. Our Amsterdam kitchen was one of the better furnished ones, but it ironically lacked a potato masher. I attempted to mash all of the veggies with a ladle and a dinner fork, which took the chunkiness to a new level. I'm not so sure how traditional my version was, but we both agreed that it was a very tasty and comforting dish.

As usual, the full recipe follows the pictures below or you can download a PDF of the recipe to save or print here.

Hutspot (Dutch Mashed Potatoes, Onions, and Carrots

Recipe courtesy of Victoria of Mission Food Adventures

Ingredients

• 2 pounds (900 grams) floury potatoes such as russets, peeled and cut into 1 ½-inch pieces

• 1 pound (450 grams) carrots peeled and diced

• 1 pound (450 grams) onions peeled and sliced

• ½ cup milk

• 4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter

• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

• Add the potatoes, carrots, and onions to a large pot and cover with water. Season generously with salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower the heat to medium, partially cover (be careful so it doesn’t boil over) and simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender, about 15 minutes.

• Drain the mixture then return it to the pot, off the heat. Add the milk and butter, then use a potato masher to mash the mixture to your desired consistency, either with some chunkiness and texture (more traditional) or smoother. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, and combine.

• Serve immediately with gehaktballen (Dutch meatballs), kielbasa, stewed beef, by itself, or however you like.

Now you know the story, you can celebrate your own Leidens Ontzet this October 3rd with Hutspot!