Chef Joost
Andijviestamppot
The Dutch trick is not cooking the andijvie at all: let the hot potatoes do the work, so the greens soften, stay bright, and keep their clean bitter bite.
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Preistamppot (Dutch Leek Mash)
Created by
The mildest stamppot in the Dutch winter kitchen: potatoes, leeks, butter, and patience, mashed into one honest pot that tastes better than its modest name admits.
Main Dishes
Dutch
Weeknight
Quick Meal
One Pot
15 min
Active Time
25 min cook•40 min total
Yield4 servings
In my grandmother's second notebook, preistamppot sits in the kind of handwriting people use for recipes they don't need to read anymore. A kilo potatoes. Plenty prei. Butter if there is butter. Milk if there is milk. That is almost the whole instruction, and also almost the whole philosophy. Dutch winter food often looks plain because it has nothing to prove. Then you eat it, and the room becomes a little kinder.
The name already tells you nearly everything. Prei is leek, stamppot is the mashed pot, from stampen, to pound or mash. No poetry hiding under the floorboards here. But let me tell you a secret: the leeks are not a vegetable you boil into submission with the potatoes. They deserve their own little moment in butter, slowly softened until their sharp onion edge turns sweet and green. Do that, and the whole dish changes from potato with green bits into a winter supper with a point of view.
Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple. Use floury potatoes, clean the leeks properly because sand loves them with devotion, and mash roughly enough that the dish still feels like food from a pot, not a puree from a clinic. A kuiltje, a little hollow, in the top for melted butter is not decoration. It is Dutch engineering.
Stamppot in its modern potato form belongs to the period after potatoes became a common Dutch staple in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, especially among working households that needed filling food from cheap stored crops. Leek stamppot is not tied to one province in the way Zeeland claims mussels or Limburg claims vlaai; it is a household dish from the winter market garden, built from potatoes and a hardy allium that stayed useful when little else was generous. Its lesson is practical: the Dutch stamppot tradition is not one recipe but a method, changing with the vegetable that survived the season.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
floury potatoes
Quantity
1.2kg
peeled and cut into even chunks
leeks
Quantity
750g
white and pale green parts, cleaned and sliced
unsalted butter
Quantity
60g
divided
whole milk
Quantity
150ml
warmed
fine salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly grated nutmeg
Quantity
to taste
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| floury potatoespeeled and cut into even chunks | 1.2kg |
| leekswhite and pale green parts, cleaned and sliced | 750g |
| unsalted butterdivided | 60g |
| whole milkwarmed | 150ml |
| fine saltplus more to taste | 1 teaspoon |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| freshly grated nutmeg | to taste |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped | 1 tablespoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Large heavy-bottomed pot
- •Wide frying pan
- •Potato masher
Instructions
- 1
Clean the leeks
Trim the dark tops and root ends from the leeks, split them lengthwise, and rinse between the layers until no grit remains. Slice them into half-moons about one centimetre thick. Leeks grow with sand tucked into their coats, and if you hurry this step, the dish will remind you.
- 2
Boil the potatoes
Put the potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water, add the teaspoon of salt, and bring to a boil. Cook for 18 to 22 minutes, until a knife slides through without argument. Drain well, then return the potatoes to the warm pot for a minute so excess moisture can leave.
- 3
Soften the leeks
While the potatoes cook, melt 40g of the butter in a wide pan over medium-low heat. Add the sliced leeks with a pinch of salt and cook gently for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until they collapse, glisten, and smell sweet rather than sharp. Do not brown them; this is a soft winter dish, not an argument.
If the pan dries before the leeks soften, add a spoonful of water and keep going. You want tenderness, not colour. - 4
Mash together
Mash the potatoes roughly, then beat in the warm milk a little at a time until the mash is creamy but still sturdy. Fold in the softened leeks, black pepper, and a small grating of nutmeg. Taste before adding more salt; the leeks and butter have already done quiet work.
- 5
Finish the pot
Spoon the preistamppot into a warm serving bowl and make a kuiltje, a little hollow, in the centre. Melt the remaining 20g butter and pour it into that hollow. Scatter parsley over if you like, though the dish is perfectly content without it.
Chef Tips
- •Use floury potatoes such as Bintje, Eigenheimer, Maris Piper, or russets. Waxy potatoes make a tight mash, and preistamppot should be soft enough to take the butter into itself.
- •Leeks are best in the cold months, when frost and slow growth make them sweeter. In late spring, use young leeks and reduce the cooking time; in high summer, I would rather make another supper.
- •For a vegan pot, use olive oil or a good plant butter and unsweetened oat milk. Accommodation is the tradition, but keep the standard: the leeks must still be cooked slowly until sweet.
Advance Preparation
- •The leeks can be cleaned, sliced, and refrigerated up to one day ahead in a covered container.
- •Leftover preistamppot keeps two days refrigerated. Reheat gently in a covered pan with a splash of milk, stirring often so the potato loosens without catching.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 465g)
Calories
475 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
9 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
5 g
Cholesterol
35 mg
Sodium
800 mg
Total Carbohydrates
81 g
Dietary Fiber
9 g
Sugars
12 g
Protein
10 g
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