Hearty Red Potato Fritatta

When you hear fritatta your mind might automatically head for breakfast-land.  But this also makes a dandy lunch or dinner, served with a side of fruit or salad.  This week it landed in brunch territory, alongside three cups of tea and a pile of Honeycrisp apple slices.

I often use leftover baked potatoes for this one, but if you don’t have any, a quick spin in the microwave will do just fine.

Hearty Red Potato Fritatta

Hearty Red Potato Fritatta

2 red potatoes
1/4 cup onion
1/4 cup red pepper
2-3 strips bacon
1 cup fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
5 eggs
Salt & pepper
1/2 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded

If you aren’t using leftover baked potatoes, poke all over with a fork and stick in the microwave.  About 4-5 minutes on high should have them fork tender.  Remove and dice.

In a small bowl, beat egg with a pinch of salt & pepper and set aside.

In a medium skillet (I like to use a 10″ skillet for these), cook bacon until crisp.  Remove to paper towels to drain and dispose of all but a tablespoon or two of the bacon grease.  Add onion and pepper to the pan and sauté a couple of minutes until tender.  Add potatoes and a pinch of salt & pepper.  Stir to combine.  Add spinach and stir into the mixture.  Make sure veggie and potato mixture is evenly distributed in the pan.  Pour egg mixture over the top.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Turn heat down to medium low and cover.  Cook another 5-10 minutes until top is completely set.  Slice into wedges and enjoy!

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Creamy Baked Potato Soup

I rarely eat leftovers in the same form as they were first presented as dinner.  I don’t know if this is some sort of culinary ADD or what, but I just get bored eating the same thing over and over again.  Does anybody else experience this?

Leftover baked potatoes were staring at me and I had eaten baked potatoes the night before, so I decided to do something different with them.  Following the path of many a leftover in my house, they became soup.  But not just any soup.  Wonderful, creamy, delightful baked potato soup.  It will take the chill off, it will cure what ails you, it will just make your tummy happy.  And best of all, since the potatoes are already cooked, it’s a snap to throw together.

Creamy Baked Potato Soup

Creamy Baked Potato Soup

1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced or chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2-3 giant baked potatoes (3-4 cups cubed potato)
4 cups milk (I used 1% but any kind will do)
2 oz. cream cheese
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
1 tsp. dill
Salt & pepper (start with 1 tsp. of each and add more if needed)
For garnish – crispy bacon, grated cheese and/or minced parsley

In a soup pot, sauté onion, carrots, and red pepper in a little oil or butter until tender.  Add potatoes and milk.  Heat until it just barely starts to boil, then immediately turn down to a simmer.  Add cream cheese, butter, dill and salt & pepper. Simmer 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, to make sure veggies are all cooked through and to let flavors blend.  Using a stick blender or potato masher, mash up or puree the soup, leaving some chunks (you can skip this if you want a chunkier soup).  I leave mine a little chunky but mashing some of it gives a nice texture and thickness that I personally like.  Do a little at a time and stop when it looks good to you.  Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.  Top with your favorite garnish and eat.

 

A Studly Spud

Normally I keep potatoes firmly in side dish territory.  They are one of my favorite foods but rarely do the get the whole spotlight at any meal.  However, last night I found myself with several large leftover baked potatoes and a tired, lazy attitude.  I peeked in my fridge and they looked just like dinner to me.  Turns out if you pile some good stuff on top, you really don’t need anything else!

A studly spud. All dressed up and ready to eat!

Studly Spuds
For each potato:

Large russet potato
2 strips bacon
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
1-2 tsp. butter
Salt & pepper
Greek yogurt for topping

Poke each potato several times with a knife or fork and bake at 375˚ for an hour or so until tender.  Turn off oven and leave them sitting in there so they stay hot while you cook the topping.  In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp.  Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel.  Discard grease.  Add onion to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add tomatoes and butter and cook and stir 1-2 minutes more.  Crumble bacon back into the mixture. Add a pinch of salt & pepper and stir to combine.

Slice the top of the baked potato down the center.  Fluff insides with a fork.  Pour bacon/tomato mixture over the top.  Add a dollop of plain greek yogurt or sour cream to the top if desired.

Baked potatoes to die for. A little greek yogurt on top finished it off perfectly!

Downright Fancy Baked Potatoes

Need a fancy side dish that 99% of people will absolutely love?  Look no further. I’ve made these a few times and they are always a huge hit.  Not only do we love them, but when we have dinner guests they add a little fancy touch to dinner that an ordinary baked potato just wouldn’t have.  They are easy to make but get an A+ for presentation. If these were a house, you could charge extra just for the curb appeal.

You can use any potatoes for this.  I used Yukon Gold potatoes basically because I was too lazy to peel and not a huge fan of russet potato skins.  But feel free to use whichever spud floats your boat.

Downright Fancy Baked Potatoes

 

Downright Fancy Baked Potatoes

Yukon Gold potatoes (or whatever kind you like)
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. butter
A pinch of salt, pepper, & dry Italian seasoning (or use whichever seasonings you like best)
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 400˚.  Slice off a thin piece on one side so the potato will sit still and not roll around while you are trying to slice it.  Make thin slices all the way across the potato, but not going all the way to the bottom.  You want the potato to stay together so stop short about 1/4 inch from the bottom (don’t beat yourself up if you slice one in half, it will still taste fine).  Slice garlic very thinly and slip between potato slices here and there.  Slice butter thinly and insert here and there into potato slices as well.  Sprinkle potatoes with seasonings.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil.  Place on a baking pan and bake for about 1 hour until fork tender.

Why not make a couple extra? They are terrific the next day.

I always try to make a couple extra because the next morning I like to do this:

Pull apart, toss in a pan, add a couple of beaten eggs, scramble. Top off with hot sauce. Breakfast of champions.

Stuffed Baked Potato Frittata

I have had a theory for quite some time that almost any leftovers can be mixed with scrambled eggs to make a perfect breakfast.  A frittata is one of the best ways to put this to the test.  On this occasion, I had leftover baked potatoes and broccoli from the night before.  Combined with a few other ingredients, it reminded me exactly of a stuffed baked potato.  But for breakfast.  Mmm. I love breakfast.  But I would eat this for any meal of the day.

Stuffed Baked Potato Frittata

Stuffed Baked Potato Frittata

2 baked yukon gold potatoes (or microwave for 5 minutes or so until tender), sliced
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup steamed broccoli
4 strips bacon
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
5 eggs
Salt & pepper
Sour cream (optional)

Get all your ingredients ready before you start cooking.  Beat eggs with a little salt & pepper in a bowl and set aside.  Shred cheese, chop veggies.

If you don’t have leftover potatoes and veggies, just nuke them in the microwave for a few minutes until tender.

Cook bacon in a medium skillet until crisp.  Remove from pan and drain on paper towels.  Drain off bacon grease, just leaving enough to coat the bottom of the pan (1-2 tsp.).  Add potatoes and onion to pan.  Sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally until onion is tender.  Beat eggs with a little salt & pepper in a bowl and set aside.  Crumble bacon and add that and the broccoli to the potatoes.  Sprinkle with cheese.  Pour eggs over the top and swirl around to coat all the ingredients.

Swirl around evenly in the pan. Don’t worry if the veggies are sticking out of the egg mixture.

Cover and turn heat down to medium low.  Cook for 10 minutes or so until eggs on top are cooked (will look a little poofy).

All set up and ready to eat!

Cut into wedges, top with a dollop of sour cream and enjoy!