Hachis Parmentier

Chef Philippe’s selected hachis parmentier layers cooked minced beef between two portions of creamy potato purée. Onion, garlic and egg enrich the meat filling, while butter and warm milk soften the mash in this French dish.

Bintje potatoes are peeled, cooked, drained and passed through a food mill. The beef starts as cooled, already cooked meat from a marmite or pot-au-feu, which is chopped and then minced.

Onion sweats in butter before garlic is added. This mixture joins the beef with whole egg, salt and pepper; parsley is an optional addition in the ingredient list.

Butter and hot milk are stirred into the potatoes, with salt, Espelette pepper and nutmeg seasoning the purée. A buttered gratin dish takes half the mash, the meat filling, then the remaining mash over it.

The smoothed surface bakes until golden, and the recipe serves the finished dish immediately. An optional topping can be grated Emmental or breadcrumbs, keeping that finish separate from the basic mash-and-meat layers.