This time of year, I’d rather not leave the house when I don’t have to. So, it’s time to dig through the cupboards to see what I’ve got and pull together dinner without getting out of my sweatpants!
Thankfully, I keep a pretty full pantry and refrigerator. This night, I had a bag of locally grown russet potatoes and decided I wanted to make twice-baked potatoes. The only problem? I hardly had any of the ingredients. My usual recipe includes blending sour cream and butter with the potatoes, and then topping them with cheddar cheese and chives. Since I didn’t have many of those ingredients, it was time to get creative.
What I did have was a bag of spinach and smoked turkey. I also had some Boursin cheese, which I love. It is a good ingredient to have on hand as the soft, creamy French cheese has a lot of flavor. I often use it blended with a little pasta water to make a sauce for pasta, as a sandwich spread, and I love it simply with crackers.
I decided to try to make twice-baked potatoes substituting the Boursin cheese for the sour cream I typically use.
Twice baked potatoes are a great make-ahead side dish but, in this case, were the main event. I served them with a Caesar salad, and they were surprisingly good. My husband, who would always prefer a hunk of meat, was happy with dinner, which is always a good testament.
The spinach kept the potato mixture moist, and the Boursin gave it an interesting flavor. I enjoyed it so much that I think I will use Boursin in my next mashed potatoes. I think they do that at The White Buffalo Club, now that I think about it.
The addition of smoked turkey made it more of a meal. While you can bake them all at once, I keep them wrapped and covered in the refrigerator, and bake them to “order” two at a time per person.
If you prefer, you could make this same recipe with bacon or ham as a substitute for the turkey. You could also substitute goat cheese for the Boursin, but I really like the Boursin. If you are vegetarian, leave out the meat.
This would make a nice side dish with steaks or even at Thanksgiving.
Twice-Baked Potatoes with Spinach, Boursin and Smoked Turkey
Ingredients
- 4 russet potatoes
- 6 cups fresh spinach
- 1 pound smoked turkey
- 1 box Boursin cheese (any flavor)
- 1/2 stick butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Wash the potatoes well.
- Poke holes in them with a fork.
- Roll them in olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake in a 425 F oven until they are soft and done, but not falling apart (about 45 to 60 minutes).
- In the meantime, heat the butter in a saucepan, and cook the spinach in the pan until it is wilted.
- Season with salt and pepper. (It will look like a lot of butter but it will go in with the potatoes and be fine.)
- Slice the turkey into small cubes.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven and cool until you can handle touching them.
- Cut the potatoes in half and carefully scoop out the insides of the potato.
- Reserve the skins.
- In a large bowl, add the potato insides, the turkey, the cheese,the spinach and butter, and using a potato masher, blend until well combined.
- Take the mixture and re-stuff the potatoes (the potatoes will be very filled, which is fine).
- At this stage the potatoes can sit covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake them.
- About 30 minutes before you want to serve them, heat the oven to 425 F, and cook the potatoes on a baking sheet for about 20 to 25 minutes until warm.
- The skin should be crispy.
