All three of us grew up with this favorite of the 1950s—a baked potato with the filling scraped out, mixed with sour cream and spices, and then restuffed back into the potato shell. This modern adaptation combines the potato with sour cream, tangy blue cheese, crunchy green scallions, chives, and smoky Italian pancetta or bacon. What we love most about these potatoes is that they can be made entirely ahead of time (making them classic party food) and reheated just before serving. And the ideas for flavor variations are endless; see below.–Jonathan King, Jim Stott, and Kathy Gunst
Twice-Baked Potatoes with Pancetta Stuffing Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 pounds (about 4 large) baking potatoes
- 5 ounces (about 5 slices) thinly sliced pancetta or thick slab bacon
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup crumbled good-quality blue cheese
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
- 4 scallions (white and green parts), finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons minced chives
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- 1. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
- 2. Poke several holes in the potatoes and place on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 1 hour, or until just soft when pierced with a small, sharp knife. Remove from the oven and set aside until cool enough to handle.
- 3. Meanwhile, cook the pancetta, or bacon if using, in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp on both sides, 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the meat. Remove and drain on paper towels. Crumble the pancetta and set aside.
- 4. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise, and using a small spoon, remove the flesh from each potato half, leaving the skin intact to act later as a container for the filling. Place the potato flesh in a small bowl and mash it with a fork or potato masher. Add the sour cream, 1/2 cup of the blue cheese, the milk, scallions, chives, half of the pancetta, the olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
- 5. Place the potato skins in a large shallow baking dish. Spoon the filling back into the potato shells, mounding it up. Top each potato half with some of the remaining pancetta and blue cheese. Sprinkle the top with a good grinding of pepper. The dish can be covered and refrigerated for several hours before baking.
- 6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the stuffing is hot throughout.
Variations
- Substitute goat cheese for the blue cheese.
- Substitute grated Parmesan or cheddar for blue cheese.
- Add buttermilk instead of regular milk.
- Add a dash of hot sauce or chopped chile peppers to the stuffing.
- Add roasted or chopped raw garlic cloves to the stuffing.
- Add 1/2 cup finely chopped roasted red pepper to the stuffing.
- Add chopped fresh basil, thyme, rosemary, chervil, or lavender to the stuffing.
Hungry for more? Chow down on these:
- Loaded Baked Potato Dip from Brown Eyed Baker
- Parmesan Hasselback Baked Potatoes from Family Fresh Cooking
- Oven-Roasted Fries from Leite's Culinaria
- Roasted Potatoes on the Grill from Leite's Culinaria
Twice-Baked Potatoes with Pancetta Stuffing Recipe © 2006 Jonathan King, Jim Stott, and Kathy Gunst. Photo © 2006 Jim Stott. All rights reserved.
[Brenda Carleton] This dish struck a great balance between the saltiness of the pancetta, the tang of the sour cream and buttermilk (which I substituted for the milk), and the richness of the blue cheese. All this in one simple dish! I also added sauteed garlic scapes (several add-ins were listed below the recipe, including garlic) as well as cheddar. Both my husband and I liked the flavors a lot. It was not a blow-your-socks-off dish, but was very good. This would be yummy with Parmesan or goat cheese instead of the blue cheese (yet another variation listed). This sort of felt retro in a fun way. I made extra to freeze.
Twice baked potatoes are a must in our house, love the idea of putting pancetta, but not a Blue cheese lover.
There are some alternate suggestions for you at the end of the recipe. I’d try with Swiss cheese, but you can substitute your favourite cheese for the Blue cheese, Ann.