Mashed potatoes with fried onions

Ingredients:

Mashed potatoes

• 4.5 kg Russet Burbank or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
• 440 g softened butter, plus extra for greasing the baking dish
• 2 packages of 220g cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Onion frying

• 1.8 kg shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Preparation:

1. Generously grease two 4-quart baking dishes with butter. Preheat oven to 175°C.
   
   Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the potatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender when pierced with a fork, 20-25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare the onion frying.Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the shallots in batches and fry until golden brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute per batch. Transfer to paper towels with a slotted spoon to remove excess oil.
3. Prepare the pureeDrain the potatoes in a large colander. Return them to the dry saucepan and place the saucepan on the stove. Mash the potatoes over low heat to release all the steam before adding the other ingredients. Turn off the heat and stir in 12 ounces of butter, cream cheese, heavy cream, and salt and black pepper to taste.
4. Arrange the shallots in the bottom of one greased baking dish, reserving some for garnish. Arrange half the potatoes on top of the shallots and spread them evenly. Top with the remaining fried onions. Transfer the remaining mashed potatoes to the second baking dish. If making these ahead of time, cover the dishes and refrigerate.
5. Before serving, sprinkle the mashed potatoes in the pans with the remaining butter and bake until the butter has melted and the potatoes are heated through, 20-30 minutes. Or 1 hour if you took the mashed potatoes out of the refrigerator.