• 1. Wash and dry your potatoes. Depending on how much time you have, you can either bake potatoes in the oven until they are done or you can place potatoes in the microwave and cook them until they are cooked through. Let the potatoes cool so they are easier to handle.
  5 Jumbo Russet Potatoes
• 2. While the potatoes are cooking, chop your onions and bell peppers into small pieces and sauté them in a large skillet with 2 Tablespoons butter. I like to start them over high heat and then move down to medium heat. I like them to have a little golden color to them. Add some salt(maybe a teaspoon salt) and pepper (not all!) to the veggies as they are cooking. I cook them for 8-10 minutes over medium heat until they have a little bit of a golden color and they are softened.
  3 large bell peppers, 2 large yellow onions
• 3. Heat oven to 400°.
• 4. Once potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half and scoop out the insides with a spoon into a large bowl. Discard skins. (If you like skins, feel free to mix some little pieces of skin into the potatoes).
  5 Jumbo Russet Potatoes
• 5. With a potato masher (no need for a hand mixer -- we do want a few little lumps for texture!), or even a fork, mash potatoes together in the mixing bowl until there are very few lumps.
  5 Jumbo Russet Potatoes
• 6. Add in butter, sour cream and heavy cream and mix together until the potato mixture is the consistency of thick mashed potatoes. Add more of each ingredient or just the cream if you need to thin the mixture out a little.
  1 cup sour cream, ½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup heavy cream
• 7. Add the contents of the skillet pan with peppers, onions and butter into the large bowl with the mashed potatoes. Mix well. Test for taste and adjust salt and pepper at this point. I always end up adding a little more salt and pepper. It's a lot of potatoes and you want it seasoned really well! Just add the salt slowly and adjust. You don't want to over salt them!
  3 large bell peppers, 2 large yellow onions, 1 Tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8. Pour the potato mixture into a 9x13 buttered baking dish and spread evenly throughout the dish.
• 9. If baking immediately, then sprinkle the mashed potato mixture with all of the cheddar cheese on top of the casserole, with the cheese sprinkled evenly over the entire top of the casserole.
  2 cups sharp cheddar
• 10. Bake for 20-30 minutes at 400* until the cheese is melted and is brown and bubbly AND the potatoes are warmed through. Serve immediately.

Make Ahead Instructions:

• 11. If you are like me and like to be ahead as much as possible when you are cooking, you can make this casserole up to two days before you actually intend to serve the dish. Just keep it tightly covered in the refrigerator. When you are ready to bake, let the warm up at room temperature for 20-30 minutes, and then put it in the 350* oven for about forty-five minutes (you are now heating COLD potatoes, so it will take longer). DO NOT ADD THE CHEESE ON TOP FOR THIS STEP.
• 12. After 45 minutes, turn the oven up to 400* and add the 2 cups of cheese on top. Bake for an additional 20 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbly on top of the casserole.