Day 12 – Potato Skins – Festive Style!

Festive Potato Skins are the last recipe in my 12 Days run.  Ideal for feeding hungry children, adding to your buffet table or for using up any Christmas dinner leftovers.  These can be done easily with smaller potatoes too if  you have lots to feed.

Ingredients:

4 large baking potatoes

175g cooked turkey, or chicken

75g cooked sausagemeat stuffing

50g cooked pancetta or smoky bacon, even pigs in blankets if they haven’t all been eaten!

20g melted butter

2 heaped tablespoons of mayonnaise

Salt and pepper

Chopped chives for garnish.

Cranberry sauce to serve.

Makes: 8 Skins

Preheat the oven to 180c (fan)/200c/Gas Mark 6.

Wash the potatoes and place the on a baking tray, season well with salt.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour until cooked through.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

Once the potatoes have cooled chop up all the ingredients into bitesized pieces – turkey, stuffing and pancetta/bacon.

Split each baking potato in half with a sharp knife and scoop the potato out of the inside into a large bowl. Set each shell onto a baking tray.

Mash the potato in the bowl roughly with a fork.

Add the mayonnaise, melted butter and the chopped extras.  Give it a great old mix up and season it well with salt and pepper.

Spoon the mixture back into the potato skins until it’s all been used up.

 Bake the filled skins in the oven at 180c (fan)/200c/Gas Mark 6 for 25 minutes until golden brown and piping hot throughout.

Serve straight away with a good dollop of cranberry jelly and a sprinkling of chopped chives.

These can also be frozen once cooled, in an airtight container.

Festive Style Potato Skins

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire