Seasonal local food recipe No.273 – Hugh’s twice baked potatoes
The weather is about to turn cooler so I have a good opportunity to serve this winter warmer for one last time before the summer.
Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Ingredients
4 large baking potatoes
40g butter
180ml soured cream or crème fraiche
120g mature Cheddar, grated
2-3 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced, or chives
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and cook in the oven for about an hour, until tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from the oven but leave the oven on.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, carefully halve them lengthways – you might want to wrap them in a tea towel when you do this – and scoop out most of the insides into a bowl, leaving a shell about 5 mm thick. Return these shells to the oven to the oven to crisp up while you make the filling (don’t let them cook for more than 10 minutes).
Mash the scooped-out potato with the butter, then stir in the soured cream or crème fraiche, Cheddar and spring onions. Season generously with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture back into the shells and bake until heated through, about 10-15 minutes.
