Veganize this: Mashed potato

My friend told me she found an amazing recipe for mashed potatoes that involved baking the potatoes first and since I hadn’t tried making mash since I became vegan I decided to see if I could veganize it and still have it taste amazing.

● 1.5kg royal blue potatoes, with skins

● 500g rock salt

● 150g vegan butter, softened (I used Buttery Nuttalex, but you can also make your own)

● 200ml vegan cream, heated (soy or nut)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

2. Spread the rock salt over a baking tray and place the potatoes on top of the salt. Place the tray into the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

3. To make the puree, remove the cooked potatoes from the oven (don’t let them cool as the potato will become gluey). Cut the baked potato in half and scoop out the hot, tender flesh. Set a mouli or fine sieve over a clean saucepan and pass the flesh through the mouli/sieve. Set the fine sieve over another saucepan and use a potato masher to push the mash through the sieve. This is quite a lot of effort but you will achieve a silky smooth potato mash.

4. Place the saucepan over a low heat and, using a heat-proof spatula, beat in the hot cream and softened butter, season to taste with salt.

5. To serve the mash reheat in the saucepan, stirring constantly, but don’t allow the mash to boil as it will split. Pour the mashed potato into a bowl and serve with vegan gravy.

When I made this I used coconut cream but found the flavour to be a bit intense, so I think in the future I am going to buy a soy cream or make my own cashew nut cream instead. Other than that I was really impressed, it's a bit fiddly but the results are great, even my omni friend and boyfriend enjoyed it. For the vegan gravy I used this recipe (and followed some of the comments suggestions) which was really delicious, but you can use gravy from a packet too.

Like most people growing up I was told that dairy was important in my diet for my bones, but now am I finding out that this is not only not true, but there are many cruelty-free sources of calcium such as leafy green vegetables and almonds. So please, if your dairy consumption is linked to the belief that calcium only comes from one source try to replace it with healthier options as much as you can.