
Cheese - Colcannon
Its Irish name is Cál Ceannann, meaning “white-headed cabbage”, and it is a traditional dish mainly consisting of mashed potatoes with kale or cabbage.
It is similar to the Irish dish Champ which is a dish of mashed potatoes, moistened with milk and butter and flavoured with chopped onions or scallions or even nettle tops (much underused veg!).

Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion
- finely sliced
- 250g mashed potato (I used about 6 to 8 potatoes so play it by ear)
- 50g unsalted butter
- 30ml double cream
- 250g Savoy cabbage blanched and sliced (or you can used greens or kale)
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- Salt and ground black pepper
Details
Level of difficulty Average
Cooking time 20mins
Cost Average budget
Preparation
Step 1
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 8-10 minutes, or until softened and golden-brown.
Step 2
In a large bowl, mix together the mashed potato, butter, cream, blanched cabbage and mustard until well combined and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper.
Step 3
Transfer the potato mixture to the frying pan with the onions in and press down to form a large potato ‘cake’. Fry for 4-5 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown on one side.
Step 4
Turn over, using a plate if necessary to help you, and fry on the other side for a further 4-5 minutes, or until crisp and golden-brown on both sides. (This last bit is tricky – in the end if it does break up, it will taste just as good even if it doesn’t look as pretty!)
Step 5
I also made a taleggio cheese sauce which really, really went well with the ham and colcannon.
Step 6
I just popped 450 ml of double cream and a clove of garlic into a small pan with a bay leaf.
Step 7
I brought it to a simmer then added a 100gm slice of taleggio and let it melt. A stunning sauce to go with a stunning and simple potato dish!
Step 8
Up the Irish!
It is a very hearty and warming dish and you can twiddle with it to your hearts content – but this is a version I particularly like.
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