Loaded Baked Potato Appetizers

Looking for a crowd-pleasing appetizer this holiday season? Everyone loves potato skins and this recipe puts a little spin on that near and dear restaurant favorite! Today Sabine, one of our classroom educators, made these potatoes for our Lunch and Learn class in our Belleville Country Store and they were a quickly gobbled up by our guests. I love this recipe because it can be prepared ahead and baked off closer to the arrival time of your guests. First, Sabine sliced the potatoes with a mandolin. This ensures the slices will bake evenly. If you don’t have a mandolin, just try to cut them as evenly as you can!

Sabine selected a mixture of Yukon gold and red potatoes for today’s recipe, both of which worked perfectly. Next, she lined her pan with parchment and brushed it with oil and sprinkled it with Kosher salt. Since Sabine makes these often, she likes to change it up from time-to-time by adding different herbs and seasonings during this step. She recommends adding rosemary needles and/or fresh-cracked black pepper to the pan.

Once the pan was oiled and seasoned, she placed the potato slices on the pan. Next, she drizzled the tops of the potatoes with oil and brushed the slices to spread the oil around evenly. Once again, she seasoned the slices with Kosher salt. The potatoes were ready to go into the oven for 20 minutes  (flipping once after 10 minutes). After 20 minutes of baking, the potatoes can be cooled, covered and held in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Since we were serving them immediately, Sabine went on to top the hot potatoes with shredded cheese and cooked bacon crumbles and returned them to the oven for 3 more minutes. Note: If you are starting with refrigerated potato slices, you will need to bake them 5-7 minutes.

Once the cheese was nicely melted,  we removed the potatoes from the oven, allowed them to cool for about 5 minutes before garnishing with sour cream and chopped chives and serve. These potatoes are also delicious at room temperature so no need to keep them hot.

Give this recipe a try for your next holiday party! We are sure you will get rave reviews just like we did!

Eat well this holiday season, Angie

Ingredients

• 5-6 red potatoes, sliced into ½” rounds
• Olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 8 strips bacon, cooked and chopped
• 3 Tbs. chives
• ¼ cup Sour cream

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Brush parchment with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place potato rounds on the parchment paper. Brush tops of potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping once.
2. Remove potatoes from oven, top with cheese and bacon. Bake for an additional 3-5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with a dollop of sour cream if using and chives.
3. Serve warm. Serves 8-12.