Twice Baked Red Potatoes

This is one of my mom's recipes (hi mom!) and she has been making one version or another of these potatoes ever since I can remember.  Who doesn't love potatoes, right? They can be baked, mashed, fried, oven roasted (one of my favorite ways to eat them), sauteed and the flavor combinations are endless - plain, seasoned salt, italian seasonings, salt & pepper, onions, garlic and the list goes on and on. That and you can top potatoes with just about anything - chili, chicken, cottage cheese, salsa. Do you now see why I like potatoes so much? And then there are sweet potatoes. But don't get me started. I'll be drooling and in the kitchen making potatoes and not telling you about this yummy side dish!

This recipe is a true winner and a classic in my family. That and it is simple. Red potatoes, roasted garlic, sour cream, parmesan cheese, a little butter, salt & pepper. No really. That is it! The only "hard" part, if you can even call it hard, is waiting for the garlic and potatoes to roast. Once they are out of the oven and are cool enough to handle you are half way there. Scoop out the middle (leaving some potato on the skin so they don't fall apart when you are stuffing them) and then mash it all up in a big bowl and add the ingredients. This is one of those recipes where you can add as much garlic, butter and sour cream as you want. If you want it creamier, add more sour cream. If you don't like it so rich, cut back on the butter. This one is all about how you like the taste. Just make sure that start with a little of each ingredient first because you can always add more, but you can't take it out!

ingredients

pre-bake

post-bake! make sure to poke the potatoes so the steam can escape!

twiced baked potato station!

scooped out potato

stuffed and topped with parsley and paprika!

Twice Baked Roasted Garlic Red Potatoes

Yields: 8-9 potatoes

9-10 medium to large red potatoes (you will want a couple extra more more filling!)

1/2 cup to 3/4 cup fat free sour cream (you can use light or full fat sour cream here)

1/2 stick to whole stick butter (I used 1/2, but you can use more or less if you want)

2 bulbs roasted garlic, mashed (see Ode to Roasted Garlic)

1/2 parmesean cheese (again, if you want more or less, go ahead)

salt & pepper (to taste)

dried parsley & paprika (for topping)

Roast potatoes in oven at 425 degrees for about 45 minutes (or until tender). Make sure to give the potatoes a few pokes with a fork to make sure steam can escape while baking. After the potatoes are tender, remove from oven and let cool until you can handle them.

Cut off a small portion of the top and scoop out the potato (remember to keep a small potato border so that the walls have stability for the filling). Continue with the rest of the potatoes and place the shells on a baking sheet. In a separate bowl, mash the removed potato filling with the butter (this is best to do when the filling is still warm so the butter will melt). Once at the desired consistency, add the sour cream, garlic, parmesean and salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning and add more if needed.

Stuff each potato shell with the filling until no filling remaining. You want those extra potatoes for extra filling, so heap on the filling. Once they are all filled, sprinkle with parsley and paprika. You can cover and chill these until ready to use (you can do this up to a day ahead) or bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

The best part of this recipe is that there is really no exact recipe. You can add what you like, take away what you don't or even add more. That and you can adjust for larger or smaller batches too. No need to be exact here! You can spice it up too and try different flavors using russet potatoes following the same technique but adding cheddar cheese and green onions instead (another family favorite!). Super easy and super delicious. I promise that when you make these, they will soon be apart of your families favorites too!