mr. potato head. [stuffed baked potato w. caramelized onions & asiago cheese]

My mom and I couldn’t decide on what to make for dinner two nights ago, but knew that we wanted to use what we already had in the fridge/pantry. We found a bag of potatoes in the pantry and tried to think of something to make with them. My mom steamed some broccoli and created a delicious concoction of pancetta, red pepper, onion and zucchini, both of which she made as side dishes. I thought it would be fun to use the broccoli and pancetta mixture as toppings for stuffed potatoes instead and to create a few different types of potatoes. Therefore, I proceeded to hunt online for another idea.

I stumbled across a recipe for a stuffed baked potato topped with caramelized onions cooked in Worcestershire sauce, sherry and garlic. As my taste buds have matured, I’ve grown quite fond of onions, possibly because of my parents affinity for the vegetable. Therefore, this recipe looked spectacular.

After I finished cooking the onions, I delicately draped them over the stuffed potatoes and sprinkled asiago cheese on top. The bite of the asiago and the starch of the potato helped tame the sweetness of the onions, caused by the addition of Worcestershire and sherry. When constructed, the potato truly looked gourmet.

In addition to my caramelized onion stuffed potato, my mom built two others—one with broccoli, cheese and chicken and one topped with the pancetta mixture described above. All three potatoes were scrumptious—I was extremely stuffed after the meal! (Cheesy pun, I know).

Recipe:

2 medium potatoes, baked

1/2 cup shredded Asiago cheese

2 tbsp. heavy whipped cream or reduced-fat sour cream

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp. butter

1 large red onion, sliced vertically

2 tsp. sugar

2 tbsp. Sheffield sherry

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

Dash of dried thyme

1 garlic clove, minced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wrap potatoes in foil and cook in oven for about an hour.

Remove potatoes from oven and remove foil. Cut each potato in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-inch thick shell. Combine potato pulp, 1/4 cup cheese, whipping cream (or sour cream), salt and pepper. Mix ingredients. Spoon potato mixture evenly into shells.

Melt butter in medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and sugar; saute about 10 minutes, or until browned and caramelized. Reduce heat to medium. Stir in sherry, Worcestershire, thyme and garlic. Cook mixture about 1 minute or until liquid evaporates, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Top each potato half with onion mixture, dividing evenly among potatoes. Top onions with remaining cheese. Arrange stuffed potato halves on baking sheet and broil in oven for 2-3 minutes.