Potato skins are one of those things I’ve never really thought of as a thing to make at home. I’m of the age where you saw them on every single restaurant menu for what seemed like years. But then they seemed to disappear and, correct me if I’m wrong, I feel like now you just don’t really see them much anymore except in the frozen party food selections at the supermarket around Christmas time.
So I’m not sure why they popped into my head one day- whilst watching Friends of all things! I guess it’s possible Joey mentioned them as they seem like quite a Joey food? Anyway whatever inspired me, I decided to have a go at making some. This recipe has been through about 101 tweaks of the ingredients and method – in fact I think my poor partner (my chief taster) is thoroughly sick of the sight of them, bless him! But this is the final result and I really like them.
When I originally came up with this recipe, it didn’t have the bacon in and was completely vegetarian – so if you are vegetarian, then just leave out the bacon and I can assure you that they are still really tasty!
Now, I’ve used bacon medallions – I prefer them. There’s a couple of reasons why: firstly because although they are slightly more expensive than bacon rashers, they are pretty much JUST bacon and there’s none of that stringy fat that you get on normal bacon rashers which makes me feel really sick! I also find them less salty (which is a big concern for me with my vertigo) and generally just a mellower flavour than your standard bacon rashers. Of course, if these things aren’t applicable to you, I can’t see any reason why you couldn’t use normal bacon. You could even, if you wanted to get a bit fancy, try some Parma ham or Prosciutto maybe.
One of the things I always try to have in the freezer is frozen spinach because it’s such a handy thing to have and so that’s what I used to create the recipe. I’ve specified in the recipe that it needs defrosting before you use it. This is purely because if you try to use it from frozen it just wants to stay in its clumps and is really quite difficult to break up.
If you want to use fresh spinach because you prefer it or you have some left and want to use it up, I’d love to know how much you used, how you made the filling with it – let me know how it went!
Now onto one of my favourite subjects….cheese! I used reduced fat mature cheddar (which is our standard cheese that we have in the fridge for sandwiches and general use) when I first made these. I have stuck with it when finalising the recipe as I’ve never felt it needed changing. However, it occurs to me now that it couldn’t hurt to experiment. For example, we got a posh gift set with some sexy cheeses for Christmas and still have odds and ends left and I’m thinking now about using those up – looks like my other half is going to have to brave a couple more tasting sessions of these bad boys!
Anyway, as always please let me know what you thought (or about any changes you made that worked well) in the comments section or by using the Contact me form. Enjoy! DDx
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Double baked potato skins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings
Description
Delicious double baked potato skins filled with a bacon and creamy cheese, onion and spinach filling.
Ingredients
2 large potatoes (or baking potatoes)
100 g frozen spinach, defrosted
60 g reduced fat cheddar, grated
1 onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1 tablespoon low fat cream cheese
2 bacon medallions
1 sprig of fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180℃ / fan 160℃ / 350℉ . Put the potatoes on a baking tray and bake for about 1 hour (SEE NOTES SECTION) until cooked through and the skins have crisped up slightly.
- Meanwhile, put the bacon medallions in a dry frying pan over a low to medium heat until cooked through and with a touch of colour. Remove from the pan and set aside. Leave the pan on the hob, turn the heat down to low and add the olive oil.
- Add the garlic, thyme, onion and spinach. Fry gently for 5 minutes until the onion has softened. Remove the heat and put aside.
- When the potatoes are cooked, cut each one in half. Holding each half in a clean tea towel or cloth, use a tablespoon to very gently scoop out the potato flesh into a heat proof mixing bowl. Put the empty skins onto a clean baking or oven tray ready for use in a moment.
- Add the cream cheese to the potato and season with salt and pepper. Mash until smooth, loosening with a tiny bit more cream cheese if too stiff.
- Roughly dice the cooked bacon and add it to the mashed potato. Add the spinach and onion and mix it all together and check the seasoning.
- Carefully spoon the mix back into the empty potato shells- I find the easiest way is to use a tablespoon. Level off the top and line the filled skins up on the tray.
- Sprinkle a little grated cheese over each potato skin and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until hot and starting to turn golden.
Notes
- The cooking time will depend very much on your potatoes so I would suggest starting with 1 hour and then checking them after 10 minute bursts.
- For a vegetarian friendly version, simply leave out the bacon!
- Prep Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
Nutrition
- Calories: 464.93kcal
