An oven baked potato is the perfect weekday meal, but baked potatoes don’t have to be boring. Read on to find out how your humble potato dinner can be made special with just a few simple tricks to elevate your meal.
- There are many different types of potato available. You want to choose a variety that is good for achieving that perfect crunchy skin with a middle that flakes apart at the touch of your fork. That means they have to be low in moisture and high in starch.
- If you are choosing a white potato, we recommend the ‘Russet’ variety.
-To make our evening meal special, we like to choose a large sweet potato for roasting.
We know it sounds strange, but don’t skip this step. Prick your potato with a fork, then use coconut oil to massage the skin of your potato. This will make it nice and crispy in the oven.
You can change the flavour of your potato depending on what toppings you want to pair it with.
- Place your potato on a large square of baking paper or tin foil
-If you are going for a classic white potato with a vegan cheese topping, think about some classic herbs such as rosemary and thyme that will compliment your vegan cheese pairing. Generously sprinkle it with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Add a tablespoon of white wine, a tablespoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of water.
-If you choose a sweet potato, we love to introduce some Eastern flavours to the dish. Add a couple of lime slices, some fresh coriander stalks, a drizzle of agave and a tablespoon of soy sauce. A tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of lime juice should be added with a generous sprinkle of sea salt and cayenne pepper.
This is the fancy part. Officially this method is called ‘en papillotte’. It means to cook vegetables wrapped in paper. This method captures the moisture of your potato and the herbs and spices you have added, and steams it altogether in one delicious package.
Set your oven to 150 degrees fan and pop your potato inside. Its baking time will depend on its size, but you want to bake it until the middle is thoroughly cooked through. Test by giving your potato a squeeze to check its progress.
When you are sure the middle is cooked, unwrap your potato from its paper and place it onto a fresh sheet of baking paper. Increase the heat of your oven to 200C and bake for a further 5 mins to crisp up the skin.
This part is up to you. Load up your potato with your desired toppings. For our special sweet potato, we love a coriander and lime yoghurt sauce, breaded mushrooms, pickled peppers and a mustard salad.
Why not let us know what you choose for your baked potato, by tagging us in your insta pictures!?