Pimp My Potatoes

So here's another recipe/idea in the occasional series 'Things I Can Make Without Having Much Kitchen Equipment'. These potatoes are so much more than the sum of their parts. Of course you could just bake a potato, cut it open and sling the fillings over the top. But doing them this way doesn't take very long and the end result is delicious. I've used tuna here because I know that's what you are planning on using but you can use pretty much anything you like and in any combination you like. Things to consider include chopped ham, spam, corned beef, tuna, sardines, cooked chopped bacon or chicken, chopped peppers, snipped spring onions, sun dried tomatoes, Peppadews, prawns, smoked mackerel, leftover curry, leftover chilli, kidney beans or any other tinned pulses... I would say that the one thing you really must use is cheese. Preferably one you can grate or crumble so wobbly cheese slices probably aren't the best choice.

Be aware that when the potatoes have finished baking they will be full of steam and this can burn you really badly. So use the bear paw gloves to get the potatoes out of the oven and use a folded tea towel to hold the halved potato when you are scooping the middle out.

You will need:

1 large or 2 small to medium potatoes per person
A little salt for sprinkling over
25g butter or margarine
2-3 tbs milk
1 tin of tuna (or other fillings, see introduction)
Grated cheese to taste


Prepare the potatoes:

Wash the spuds but don't dry. Prick all over with a sharp knife or a fork and sprinkle with salt. Bake at 200ºc until soft when pressed (be careful) they will probably take between 45 mins to an hour and a half depending on the size of the potatoes.

Allow the potatoes to cool for 10 mins or so then cut each potato in half and use a spoon to carefully scoop out the soft, cooked potato into a roomy bowl, leaving a shell of baked potato skin behind.

Mash the cooked spud with a fork until smooth then mash in the milk and butter. Drain the tin of tuna and add to the bowl along with as much grated cheese as you like/can afford and stir until combined.

Spoon this mixture evenly between the empty potato shells and either sprinkle the tops with extra grated cheese or roughen the surface with a fork and top with a small knob of butter.

Put the filled potatoes on a baking tray or in a shallow ovenproof dish and put back in the oven for 15-20 mins, or until the tops are golden brown and the potatoes are piping hot in the middle.

I ate mine with salad. You will probably have baked beans.


***For students who don't have an oven, you can of course microwave the potatoes. Just be aware that the skins will be quite soft so scooping out the middles needs to be done with extra care. However, if split skins happen you can usually hide it quite well by spooning in the filling, pushing the skin around it and then nestling all the potatoes closely together so that they hold each other up. Then serve with a flourish and no one will know.

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H: Potate

Huzzah!

Is that a cooked potate?

H: Yep!

Looking good.

H: Ok pictures incoming:

Loving your work

Wasn't it easy?

H: I can't think of anything funny to say to be honest, it's a collection of terrible photos of me gutting a poor potato... It is a huge potato though.

Better or worse than you expected?

H: It was about what I expected really haha

And there we have it. Uninspiring a generation one recipe at a time.

H: I was tempted to eat the mash before putting it back in the potato...

Oh I do that every single time. Thank you chick xxx

You must do the pie now... I know I know... But PIE. And actually yum.