Rustic Cheesy Mashed Red Potatoes

It's that time of the month again! Time for The Ultimate Crazy Cooking Challenge over at Mom's Crazy Cooking. This month's theme is mashed potatoes. I found a great recipe at Cook Like James for Rustic Mashed Red Bliss Potatoes with Cream Cheese and Chives. Of course I couldn't help making a few adjustments to the original recipe :)

Ingredients

2 pounds of red potatoes (organic is always best when it come to root veggies)
1 tsp sea salt
1 bay leaf
4 Tbs. butter, melted
4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tbs. plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup milk (I use raw milk)
1/4 cup green onion tops, sliced, reserving some for garnishing
1/4 cup parmesan, finely grated
8 oz. provolone cheese, grated
Cracked black pepper

Directions
1.  Wash potatoes and cut into 1 inch pieces. Do NOT peel. Place potatoes in a large pan and cover with 1 inch of cold water. Add salt and bay leaf. Boil until fork tender. Drain potatoes and discard bay leaf. Return potatoes to hot pan and let stand for 5 minutes uncovered.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

3. This part you can do by hand or in a mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer). Mix melted butter and cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Stir in Greek yogurt, milk, and chives. Reserve 1/4 cup of provolone cheese and set aside. Add remaining provolone cheese and cooked potatoes to the cream cheese mixture. Mix until your mashed potatoes are your desired consistency. I like mine a little chunky!

4. Place mashed potatoes in a baking dish or you can use 8 medium sized porcelain ramekins like I did. Top with remaining provolone and parmesan cheeses. If you are using ramekins, place them on a cookie sheet. Bake mashed potatoes for 10- 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. I took mine out of the oven and placed them in the broiler for a minute to brown the cheese. Garnish with green onions and enjoy!

Yummmy, what a lovely dinner! If you like this recipe, PLEASE vote for me, I'm #5 :) All you have to do is click "Like" by my recipe below in the link party.