Idaho® Fingerling Potato Pie with Sausage and Cheddar

By Mimiavocado

I was invited by the Idaho Potato Commission to develop a recipe using  Idaho® potatoes for March Nutrition Month.  Did you know that colorful foods are rich in antioxidants?  Eating lots of colorful foods rich in antioxidants can help to protect the cells in our body from the effects of free radicals, which may play a role in heart disease, cancer, and other diseases. So I’m sharing a recipe with you today using colorful Idaho® fingerling potatoes!

I am in love with the Idaho fingerling potato!    For one thing, fingerling potatoes are  so easy to roast, ready in 15-20 minutes.  No need to peel them, just wash and roast!  They come in different colors too: pink ones called Red Thumb or Ruby Crescent, purple ones named Purple Fiesta Fingerling Potatoes, and cream colored Russian Banana Fingerlings.  Sprinkle on some garlic powder and parmesan.  Serve them with guacamole or melt some pepper jack on top.  These pretty little potatoes are beautiful on the plate with almost any meal.

We love to roast fingerlings to eat as a snack, instead of french fries.  Potatoes have no fat,  lots of vitamins and minerals,  low in calories and high in heart healthy fiber.   Last week I roasted some colorful mixed medley  IdahoR fingerlings and  made this spectacular pie!  We enjoyed it for supper with extra fingerlings to dip in the scrumptious gravy!

In the  morning we reheated that cheesy potato pie stuffed with sausage and topped it with a nice runny fried egg!

I love seeing the colors in this pie…pink on the bottom, purple in the middle, and the cream-colored fingerlings on top!

Wash the potatoes and place them in a plastic food saver bag with some olive oil to coat them with the oil.  Then roast  at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Season and enjoy!   Let some of them cool to make the pie.

To make the gravy for the pie, we’ll start by cooking the sausage and onion together, then add some butter and sprinkle all-purpose flour over  it all.  Stir in the flour and gradually add the milk.  Keep stirring until the gravy thickens, then fold in the sour cream.

Season the gravy with a little salt and black pepper,  then add a shot or two of hot sauce if you want.  Now it’s time to assemble the pie!

Spread about 1/2 cup of gravy in the bottom of a 10 inch pie plate.  Cut  the pink fingerlings into 1/4 inch thick slices and lay them in the bottom of the pan until you have a pink finagling potato layer.  Cover with 1 cup of the gravy, and top with purple fingerling slices.  Don’t they look festive!

Cover the purple layer with 1 cup of gravy, and and slice the long cream-colored fingerlings length-wise.  They really do look like fingers, don’t they!  Place them on top of the pie with skin sides up, like spokes on a bicycle.  Then pour the rest of the gravy on top, and sprinkle the cheddar cheese to finish the pie.

You can use your favorite cheese but I especially love extra sharp white cheddar.   For this pie I used Cabot White Oak Cheddar, using about half of the brick to make one cup of grated cheese.

Pop that pie into the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until the sauce is all bubbly and the cheese on top is golden.

When the pie is first baked, the gravy will be runny.  Save some fingerlings to dip in the sauce!  When you reheat the pie the next day it will be firm and easier to cut.   If you want the pie slices to look really pretty,  bake the pie a day before you want to serve it  and chill it in the fridge.  Then cut the slices and reheat them individually.

Roasted Idaho® Fingerling Potato Pie with Sausage and Cheddar

 Servings: 8 slices
 Ingredients: 
  • 3 lbs. Idaho® Fingerling potatoes, mixed medley (10 each white, pink, purple fingerlings)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound bulk country sausage
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 3 ½ cups 2% milk
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • hot sauce (optional)
  • 1 cup grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
Directions:
  1. Wash potatoes. Place the olive oil into a 1 gallon plastic food saver bag and add the fingerling potatoes.   Coat the potatoes with the olive oil and place them on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Roast the potatoes in 450 ° Fahrenheit oven for 15-20 minutes, until tender when pierced with a fork.
  2. Place a large, heavy, non-stick skillet over high heat; add the sausage and onions and cook, breaking it up with a spoon into small pieces., until the sausage is fully cooked and the onions are tender.
  3. Add the butter to the pan and let it melt. Sprinkle the flour over the pan and stir until it is blended into the meat mixture.
  4. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until the gravy begins to thicken. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often.
  5. Stir in the sour cream and cook until gravy returns to simmer. Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce, if desired.
  6. Spread ½ cup of the gravy on the bottom of a 10 inche pie plate or casserole dish. Slice the pink fingerlings into ¼ inch slices (the long way) and lay them over the gravy to form a bottom layer. Spread one cup of gravy on top.
  7. Slice the purple fingerling potatoes in a similar way and lay them on top of the gravy to form the next layer. Cover this layer with 1 cup of the gravy.
  8. Slice the white fingerling potatoes in half length-wise, and lay them on top of the gravy like the spokes of a wheel, skin side up.   Spread the remaining gravy over the top.
  9. Sprinkle the grated cheddar cheese over the top of the pie.
  10. Bake at 350° F for 30 minutes until the pie is bubbling and the cheese on top has browned. (You may use the broiler for 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese.)
  11. Let the pie rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting. Serve hot.

Serving Tip: Serve with a green salad for a hearty meal.   Leftover pie is great reheated for breakfast with an egg on top.

Estimated Nutritional Analysis per Serving: 516 calories, 30 g fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 930 mg sodium, 20 g protein, 38 g carbohydrates.

Have you tried Idaho fingerling potatoes?

Disclosure:  Cabot Cheese Coop sent me the White Oak Cheddar cheese that I used in the recipe as part of the Cabot Cheese Board blogger program.  All opinions and experiences are my own.