Twice Baked Potatoes with Pancetta and Irish Cheddar

This recipe came about when I was walking the aisles at Whole Foods. I passed the cheese section and picked up some Dubliner Cheddar. Then I saw some pancetta nearby and put that in my cart. Determined to come up with a dinner idea using these two ingredients I decided on twice baked potatoes. For this dinner though I was just going to come up with my own instead of finding an official recipe.

Twice Baked Potatoes with Pancetta and Irish Cheddar
Serves 3-6

Ingredients:

3 russet potatoes, washed and dried
3.5 oz Irish Cheddar cheese, freshly grated
6 slices pancetta, cooked (I fried up mine on the stove)
3T heavy cream
2 T. unsalted butter, + a smidgen more
salt and pepper to taste

1). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place potatoes in oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pierce potatoes and return to oven. Bake until tender

2). When cool enough to handle (or you could use a towel) cut the potatoes in half and scoop out the inside. Be sure to leave a rim so the potato skins don't tear.

3). Mash potato filling with a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add butter and combine. Add heavy cream and combine. Add pancetta and cheese. Stir entire mixture so that the pancetta and cheese are equally distributed.

4). Return filling to potato skins. Top each potato half with a smidge more butter.

5). Place potato halves on a cooking sheet lined with aluminum foil and a thin layer of olive oil. Return to oven until warmed through.







Delicious!