Hairy Bikers Colcannon Recipe

This Hairy Bikers colcannon recipe mashes potatoes with warm cream and butter, then folds in savoy cabbage fried with smoked bacon and spring onions. So their Perfect Pies version serves 6 in about 45 minutes, at roughly 440 calories a portion by my estimate.

“A fab accompaniment to a home-made pie” is how Si and Dave sell it, and they say the bacon can go if you prefer. But it’s one of four colcannons I’ve found in their books, from a kale version in British Classics to a lighter Hairy Dieters one.

The short rest after draining is the step I’d never skip, since I find it lets the potatoes steam dry before any cream goes in. Then warming the cream with the butter keeps the mash hot for longer, a trick their British Classics buttery mash swears by.

Hairy Bikers Colcannon Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Boiling Cuisine:British Irish Courses:Side

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 15 minutesCook time: 30 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time: 45 minutesServings:6 servingsCalories:440 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Shredded savoy and smoked bacon get four minutes in butter, then a minute more with spring onions, while the potatoes boil. Then warm cream and butter go into the mash before the cabbage is stirred through and piled into a warmed dish.

Ingredients

For the mash

• 1kg medium potatoes, preferably Maris Pipers or King Edwards
• 50g butter
• 200ml double cream
• flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the cabbage

• 1 small green cabbage, such as savoy
• 25g butter
• 100g rindless smoked streaky bacon rashers, cut into 2cm pieces
• 5 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced

Instructions

1. Boil the potatoes: Peel the potatoes and cut them into even-sized chunks. Then put them in a large saucepan, cover with cold water, bring to the boil and cook for about 15 minutes until very tender. Then test them with the tip of a knife.
2. Shred the cabbage: While the potatoes cook, remove any damaged leaves from the cabbage and cut it in half. Then cut out the tough central core and shred the leaves thinly.
3. Fry the bacon and cabbage: Heat the 25g of butter in a large non-stick frying pan and fry the bacon and cabbage for 4 minutes, stirring regularly. Then add the spring onions and cook for 1 minute more.
4. Rest the potatoes: Drain the potatoes in a large colander, return them to the saucepan and leave them to stand for a couple of minutes. Then warm the cream and the 50g of butter together in a small pan.
5. Mash: Mash the potatoes with the warm cream and butter until smooth, then season to taste. Or use electric beaters if you want the mash really fluffy and light.
6. Combine and serve: Tip the cabbage and bacon into the mash and stir until lightly combined. Then pile it into a warmed dish and serve.

FAQs

Can you use kale instead of cabbage?

Yes, their Perfect Pies tip says curly kale makes a great alternative, and it adds deep green streaks to the mash. And their British Classics colcannon is built on 100g of curly kale and a softened onion, for 4 people.

Their BBC scallops with bacon and black pudding sit on the same colcannon, so it’s the one to make for that dish.

Is there a lighter Hairy Bikers colcannon?

Yes, The Hairy Dieters Eat for Life has a lower-cal colcannon at 157 calories a portion for 4, with no butter or cream at all. Instead, 500g of potatoes are mashed with 3 tablespoons of semi-skimmed milk, then mixed with half a savoy, 2 lean rashers and half an onion.

Since the pan only gets half a teaspoon of oil, they add a tablespoon of water every couple of minutes to stop the cabbage burning.

What was in their first colcannon?

Their first book, the Hairy Bikers Cookbook, has it in the Ireland chapter with 400g of kale, 1kg of floury spuds and 140ml of cream. Then shallots and chives simmer in the cream for about 5 minutes, with melted butter poured on top “if your arteries can stand it”.

They call it a fantastic stand-alone vegetarian dish, but add “crikey, it’s good with a couple of rashers of bacon and a fried egg”.

Can you make colcannon ahead?

For a short wait, their British Classics method has an easy fix: a warmed heatproof dish under foil, in the oven at 140°C/Fan 120°C/Gas 1. But the books don’t cover storing it, so I treat leftovers like any mash, covered in the fridge and eaten within a day or two.

What do you serve with colcannon?

A pie is their own answer, so their Perfect Pies steak and ale pie is the obvious partner. And their first book serves it with a Guinness Irish stew, so their classic Irish lamb stew from that book fits too.

Plus the Eat for Life lighter version goes with sausages and onion gravy, so I’d try it with their great sausage casserole.