Crispy, Cheesy Baked Potato

It is true, a recipe for a baked potato isn’t really a recipe. But it is also true that this version of a baked potato is my one-of-those-days dinner, my comfiest of comfort foods. It’s also become my children’s comfiest of comfort foods, and that is why I thought we should share our “recipe” here.

This is a baked potato with crisp, salty skin (my favorite part of the whole thing), fluffy insides, and a creamy texture you will swear is indulgent but, in reality, is pretty close to healthy. The creamy, cheesy part happens when you add a little grated parmesan to the hot insides of the potato, which melts the parm, and then put a scoop of cottage cheese on top of that. Mix it together while the potato is still hot, sprinkle in a whole bunch of pepper and a little salt, and you have a melty potato that is, for me, the most perfect of dinners. Some chives or scallions mixed in takes it over the top.

Except when you sit down to this baked potato, preferably under a blanket on the sofa, maybe in front of an episode of The Bachelor, you will feel anything but over the top.

This is a baked potato with crisp, salty skin, fluffy insides, and a creamy texture you seems indulgent but, in reality, is pretty close to healthy. 

Crispy, Cheesy Baked Potato

1 russet potato, scrubbed and dried with paper towels
1 teaspoon olive oil
Kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated parmesan 
¼ cup cottage cheese 
1 tablespoon chopped chives or scallions
Freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Prick one side of the potato several times with the tines of a fork, to let steam escape while it is baking. Rub the olive oil over the potato, the rub a little salt over that. Place the potato, pricked side up, directly onto the oven rack. Bake for 1 hour.*

While the potato is hot, use a fork to slice open one side of the potato skin. Sprinkle the parmesan into the potato, then put the cottage cheese on top of that. Use the fork to mix the potato and cheeses so that they melt. Add the chives or scallion, and season generously to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. 

*If you’re really hungry or in a rush, you can cook the pricked potato in the microwave on high for 6 minutes. Transfer it to the oven to bake for 30 minutes, or until a knife is easily inserted into the center of the potato.