Cheesy, Bacon, Baked Potatoes

Perfect comfort food for a cool winters evening, and so easy to make, it just takes a little time tis all.  Recipe below, I hope you enjoy and share with your friends.

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 2 x large russet potatoes, scrubbed clean

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 oz of butter

• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

• 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

• 3 tbsp cream or milk

• Salt and pepper

• 6 rashers of bacon, cooked and crispy and chopped

• 2 green onions finely sliced (optional) 

Method:

Oven temp 350f / 180c - using a knife carefully poke a few holes into the potato, this helps release the steam when they bake and prevents them from exploding in the oven. Make sure the potato skin has been scrubbed clean, then pat dry and rub with a little oil.  Place on a tray and pop into the oven for 1.5 hours, or until the skin is crispy and the inside potato is soft all the way through.  You can poke a knife through it to test if it’s cooked. 

Take out of the oven, slice in half and scoop the inside soft potato into a small bowl, but make sure you leave the skin in tact with a bit of potato still inside the skin. Brush with some oil and place the skins under the broiler or grill on a low setting to get them crispy, about 5 minutes. 

Mash the soft potato with the cheddar cheese, butter, cream, salt and pepper and the bacon. 

Take out the potato skins from under the grill, and fill them up with the mashed potato mix.  Sprinkle with mozzarella and green onions and place under the grill / broiler again for another 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. 

Serve straight away otherwise the cheese will go hard.

Tip - You can make these in advance by baking the potatoes earlier and leaving them to cool. To reheat just pop back into the oven for 15 minutes at 350f / 180c or until hot. Or if you have a microwave you could also reheat using that, and then get the skins crispy again under the broiler / grill.