Mashed Potato Pie with Cheese (Patatopita)

Greek Patatopita is an easy and delicious mashed potato pie with cheese and onions. It's firm yet soft with a nice mashed potato crust on top!

If you're into simple, frugal, old-fashioned dishes you're in the right place. This mashed potato pie is exactly it!

Table Of Contents

• Potato Pie Ingredients
• How To Make
• TIPS
• Make Ahead
• Serve With
• Storing And Reheating
• Recipe

A Cheese Potato Pie Recipe

This Potato pie is a traditional recipe from Tinos island in Greece.

A great recipe for when all you have available is potatoes, plus pantry staples (like cheese, eggs, milk, and butter). Now surely you won't have Greek Kefalotyri cheese in your refrigerator (traditionally used to make Patatopita) but no problem.

You can make this potato pie with almost any type of cheese. Hard cheese will yield a firm pie while melting types of cheese will make it less of a pie and more like baked mashed potatoes.

Potato Pie Ingredients

• Potatoes: a starchy variety such as Russet, Idaho, and Yukon gold.
• Onion: you can use shallots or even leeks instead.
• Butter
• Eggs
• Milk
• Dried oregano: swap it for thyme, marjoram, or tarragon.
• Parsley: or chives.
• Kefalotyri cheese: it's a hard, salty, Greek cheese made of sheep milk. The best substitutes are Pecorino and Parmesan cheese or a ripened Gruyere cheese. However, you can use other types of cheese as well.
• Breadcrumbs: these are used to create a coating at the bottom of the pan so the mashed potatoes won't stick. You can use cornmeal or even almond meal instead as gluten-free options.

How To Make

To make this easy potato pie you boil the potatoes, allow them to cool enough to handle, and then peel and mash them. Then incorporate the remaining ingredients.

Prepare a baking pan or baking dish by brushing with olive oil and then sprinkling some breadcrumbs on top (to coat the whole bottom surface). Next spread the mashed potato mixture on top. You can decorate the top of the pie by making lines with a fork (which is traditionally done) or leave it smooth.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the top of the pie gets a nice roasted color.

TIPS

1. Boil potatoes with their skin so they won't absorb too much water, this helps yield a firmer potato pie.
2. Allowing the potatoes to cool enough to handle also gives them time to become firmer.
3. Season the potatoes in the pot they boil in but avoid adding extra salt into the pie mixture. The cheese is salty enough. If you want to add a little bit more salt, sprinkle some on the top of the pie to make it more crusty.
4. If you want the potato pie more cheesy, sprinkle some grated cheese (melting types are great for this) on the top of the pie 10-15 minutes before finishing baking.

Make Ahead

You can cook the potatoes the day before and refrigerate them until you're ready to make the pie. You can also make mashed potato pie the day before and bake the next day.

Serve With

Serve this easy and delicious potato pie with a Creamy Beetroot Salad Dip With Greek Yogurt, or a Baked Feta Dip (Bouyourdi), with Keftedakia (Greek Fried Meatballs), or a Saucy Bekri Meze.

Storing And Reheating

Store Patatopita in the fridge for up to 2 days. You can keep it for up to 3 days but the flavor alters the longer it sits.

To reheat: brush a non-stick frying pan or skillet with some olive oil and heat over high. Add the pieces of the leftover pie and turn the heat to medium-low put a lid on and heat the pie turning it at least once.

Recipe