Recipe: Baked Stuffed Potatoes

I love Baked Stuffed Potatoes and bowl of soup or a salad for supper. It’s a comfort food that’s so easy to make…. and you can stuff baked potatoes a million ways…. so it doesn’t ever have to get boring…. Even the pickiest eater can find a way to like them…. a hearty soup or a large salad and a stuffed potato… it’s filling, tasty, healthy and economical…. what could be better?

The recipe I’m going to give you is a basic one…. a classic…. I didn’t use bacon… a lot of people use bacon…. But I used bacon when I made the potato skins last week so I changed it up a bit…. I prefer to use cubed ham anyway… I also used a mix of Monterey jack cheese and cheddar cheese…. it was from one of those blended shredded cheese packages in the supermarket… you can use either or substitute any cheese you prefer. I used scallions in this recipe… but I have used snipped chives in the past…. I wanted more of an oniony flavor this time.

I used my Kitchen Aid mixer to whip the potatoes… however…. I like mine a little lumpy… I like texture with this recipe…. I prepared the filling… then folded in the ham and onions by hand at the last minute. If you prefer yours to be smooth and creamy… use cream instead of milk and make them as you would creamy mashed potatoes.

I hope you enjoy it…. and be inventive…. try different things….

Baked Stuffed Potato Recipe:

All you need:

4 potatoes (I prefer Russet potatoes for this)
Extra potato (insides) – optional
Olive oil
½ cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
1/8 teaspoon pepper or to taste
2 tablespoons butter or margarine (I used butter)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a Monterey Jack cheese and cheddar blend)
½ cup sour cream
1 cup ham, cubed
1/8 teaspoon paprika (plus a little more to sprinkle on top)
¼ cup chopped green onions (scallions)

All you have to do:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Scrub and dry potatoes.

Rub the potatoes lightly with olive oil.

Bake the potatoes for approximately 1 hour or until potatoes are cooked (they should give a little when pressed).

Allow to cool enough to handle.

Reduce oven heat to 350 degrees.

Slice the potatoes in half…. (you can also just slice off the top third of the potato …see Tip of the Day).

Scoop out the insides of the potato leaving a shell with about a ¼ inch wall). If the scooped out potato is no longer hot, microwave for a minute or two until hot.

In a large mixing bowl combine the potato, butter, milk, sour cream, salt, pepper and paprika… beat until fairly smooth but with some small lumps.

Add the shredded cheese, ham and scallions (reserve some chopped scallions for garnish).

Spoon the mixture into the potato shells.

Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or heated through.

Remove from oven to serving plates.... garnish with reserved chopped scallions.