Gorgonzola Twice-Baked Potatoes
The Nitty Gritty:
These rich, creamy potatoes may change your life.- Level: 2
- Prep Time: 60 minutes
- Yields: 6 servings
- Tags: potato
If playing to a skeptical crowd, you can cut the Gorgonzola in half, which will yield potatoes with a milder flavor that even avowed stinky-cheese detractors will love.
Ingredients:
- 3 large russet potatoes
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- ¼ pound pancetta, cubed
- 8 ounces Gorgonzola, crumbled
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 6 ounces sour cream
- 1 shallot, minced
- salt and pepper
- ½ Tbsp. unsalted butter
- ½ cup Asiago cheese, grated
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. While oven is heating, scrub the potatoes and poke 5-7 times with a fork (so steam can escape and they won't explode in your oven). Bake potatoes for 45 minutes.
- While the potatoes are baking, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Sauté the shallots for 2 minutes, or until soft. Add the cream cheese and heat until soft and melted, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream and blend until the mixture starts to thicken.
- Using a spatula, scrape the cream cheese mixture into a large mixing bowl. Wipe the saucepan out with a paper towel and replace on the stove. Sauté the pancetta cubes until they are crispy and the pan is filled with small white bubbles. Remove to a stack of folded paper towels (to drain some of the grease).
- When the potatoes are done, carefully slice them lengthwise, so they resemble canoes. It's best to wear an oven mitt on your non-cutting hand.
- Scoop out some of the potato, adding it to the mixing bowl with the cream cheese mixture. Leave just enough for the halves to retain their structure.
- Once you've scooped out all six potato "canoes," blend the cream cheese mixture with the potato until smooth, using a fork to mash any big chunks. Add the Gorgonzola and pancetta, then add about 4 oz. of the sour cream and blend well. Add more sour cream as needed until the consistency is creamy and fluffy (but not too runny). Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Turn the oven to broil. Place the potato halves on a baking sheet and fill them with the mixture (be generous!). Cover the tops with the grated Asiago (be generous again) and return to the oven, on the top rack, baking until the cheese has melted and started to brown, about 10 minutes. Enjoy the culinary miracle that is about to enter your system.
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By Lauren McNally
Lauren B. McNally is a New York based consultant and freelance writer who spends most of her free time exploring culinary and oenological pursuits with friends. She originally hails from Maine and graduated from Bowdoin College,spending time abroad at the University of Cambridge in the UK (where she found the dining hall cuisine rather offensive and repulsive, as opposed to the top-ranked Bowdoin Dining Services). Her palate is ever-evolving but Burgundies are among her current obsessions. Her least favorite wine-related phrase: “I don’t like _.” Lauren also enjoys cooking Italian and French cuisine, and has an unnatural obsession with Gorgonzola and pancetta.
About The Humble Gourmand
The Humble Gourmand is published the first Friday of each month, edited by Alison L. McConnell, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and writer. It is designed to offer straightforward lessons and advice to aspiring cooks, oenophiles, and all other eaters and drinkers.
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