Cheesy Potato Skins
These stuffed potato skins are just delicious. They may not come first or even second in a beauty contest, but the flavour of the melted blue cheese inside the crunchy potato skins is definitely a winner. They are easy to make ahead and if you do not want to stuff the skins (which I think could be a big loss) the crunchy skins are really good used for dips as well. Even better, they can be scaled up to make a more filling bite, great for casual entertaining or, thinking ahead, to serve for November firework parties.
Ingredients - makes approximately 24
500g small King Edward potatoes (this quantity will vary a bit, depending on potato sizes)
100g mashed potato (scooped out of the baked potatoes)
30g finely chopped onion
2-3 tbs olive oil
100g spinach, wilted (see Method below)
3 tbs creme fraiche
35g blue cheese (I used Gorgonzola, but use a Stilton for a vegetarian option - see tips page for other vegetarian cheeses)
Method
Heat the oven to 190°c. Scrub and prick the potatoes. Rub over with a little olive oil. Bake for 45-60 minutes until they feel soft when gently squeezed.
Leave the potatoes until they are cool enough to handle. Then cut into halves or quarters, depending on the size, (think mouthful size). If the potatoes are larger there may be some waste, but the irregular pieces of potato skin are great to crisp up and use for dips or to just nibble on. The extra potato insides are great for mash and if you add a generous amount of butter, this will freeze well.
After most of the soft potato has been scraped out, with just a thin layer left, rub over the skins with some more olive oil and season. Put back into the oven, cut side up, on a greased baking tray and bake for another 10 minutes. Then turn over so that the skins are uppermost and cook for another 10 minutes, until the skins are crispy.
In the meantime, cook the finely chopped onion in one teaspoon of olive oil until soft.
Wilt the spinach by heating it gently in a pan without water. When the spinach has wilted, squeeze it out in a clean tea towel (or kitchen towel, but be careful of pieces of paper sticking to it). Chop.
Mash 100g of the potato.
Mix the cooked onion, chopped spinach, creme fraiche and blue cheese into the mashed potato. Check seasoning.
Spoon the cheese mixture into the cooled potato skins. Store, covered, in the fridge, until ready to cook. They will keep happily overnight.
When ready to cook, preheat oven to 190°. Put the stuffed potato skins on a baking sheet and cook for about 8 minutes or until piping hot. Check seasoning and serve. Delish!
