I’ve loved twice baked potatoes since I was a kid. Whenever I was sick they’d be the thing I’d want as soon as I could eat. It’s the soft mashed filling and slightly crispy exterior. And all the extra flavour.

These guys are loaded with extra flavour. And cheese. Yeah there’s cheese in them, there has to be. I’m a cheese fiend,but if you’re watching your fat intake then  you could replace /2 the cheese in these with cottage cheese. To cut down on cheese I always make sure to use a good quality, sharp, mature cheddar because you get more flavour with less cheese.

I love these served with a crisp green salad of shredded lettuce tomatoes herbs and cucumber just dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. I usually put a dollop of natural yoghurt on the side or make a healthier version of sour cream by blending cottage cheese and a squeeze lemon juice together until smooth (click here for quantities).

Serves 2

Ingredients

4 small-medium sweet potatoes

1 clove garlic, skin on

½ cup freshly grated sharp cheddar

3 Tbs freshly grated parmesan

½ cup finely chopped spring onion

¼ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley

½ tsp paprika

1 Tbs olive oil + 1 tsp olive oil

Yoghurt and green salad to serve

Directions

Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius and line a baking tray.

Place potatoes and garlic on the tray and cook for 15 minutes, remove garlic and continue cooking potatoes for a further 30 minutes or until tender (this will vary with size).

Remove potatoes and allow to cool for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, place 1 tsp of oil in a small pan over medium heat and add ¼ cup of the spring onion. Saute gently until golden.

Lie the potatoes horizontally and using a sharp knife slice the top cm off. Scrape the potato of the skin of this top flap and discard the skin. Using a spoon gently hollow out the potato remove the filling. You want to leave about 2mm of potato covering the skin and remove the rest. Place the soft cooked potato in a bowl with all the other ingredients including the cooked spring onion. Mash to combine. Scoop the filling back into your hollowed out potato skins, you want it to be be mounded slightly on top.

Return to the hot oven for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden on top.

Serve sprinkled with finely sliced parsley, a scoop of natural yoghurt (or the homemade sour cream as noted above the recipe) and a simple green salad.

HH. x