Name: Stuffed Pesto Baked Potatoes
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 65 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 8 medium red potatoes; 1/4 cup milk; 2 tablespoons butter; 3 tablespoons prepared pesto; 1 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt; 1/8 teaspoon black pepper; extra virgin olive oil, (for brushing inside of shell)

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Stuffed baked potatoes made with fresh basil pesto and spices; then baked until super creamy and delicious makes a super flavorful side dish.

Can I just start off by saying that I LOVED these potatoes created by my foodie friend Laurie Bakke! When I first got her cookbook I wasn’t sure which recipe I was going to try first.

Should I try the Thai Marinated Cucumber Salad? The Mediterranean Orzo Salad with Basil, Mint and Sherry Vinaigrette? Or maybe the Stuffed Gourmet Meatloaf?

Decisions. Decisions.

Then while planning out my dinner one evening, I flipped through the book again and saw these Stuffed Baked Red Potatoes with Basil Pesto…SOLD!

This recipe was a little time consuming, but TOTALLY WORTH IT! In fact, you could even cook the potatoes the night before to speed up the preparation.

Stuffed Pesto Baked Potatoes

How do you make Stuffed Pesto Baked Potatoes?

For this recipe you’ll need red potatoes, milk, butter, prepared pesto, granulated garlic, Kosher salt, black pepper and EVOO.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F; then rub potatoes with oil and salt and bake directly on the rack for 30-45 minutes or until tender all the way through when pierced.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and prepare the potato shells by first cutting a small piece off of each end from the 8 potatoes. Scoop out the potato from the shell and place in a large bowl.

Stand the potato shells up in a muffin tin or oven safe dish, wide side up and brush the inside of the skins with the oil. Sprinkle with salt and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove and set aside.

While the potato skins are in the oven, heat the milk, butter and garlic over medium heat until the butter has melted. Add the milk mixture and the pesto to the potatoes and mash with an electric mixer until the potatoes are stiff.

Finally, spoon potato mixture into shells making sure you stuff them all the way so they will not cave in as they bake. Drizzle each potato with some oil and salt and bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and heated through.

I HIGHLY recommend baking the potatoes in the oven like Laurie suggests and not in the microwave. It really gave the skins a crunchy outer texture that just added to the other wonderful flavors going on here.

Overall, these Stuffed Pesto Baked Potatoes got two thumbs up from everyone in this house. And because it made extra servings, we ate them twice that week. Thanks for a terrific recipe Laurie! ~Enjoy!

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Stuffed Pesto Baked Potatoes

*Recipe Adapted from Laurie Bakke's Kitchen

Stuffed baked potatoes made with fresh basil pesto and spices; then baked until super creamy and delicious makes a super flavorful side dish. #sides #potatoes #pesto #bakedpotatoes

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Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: potatoes

Servings:

Author: Carrie's Experimental Kitchen

Ingredients

8 medium red potatoes
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons prepared pesto
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
extra virgin olive oil, for brushing inside of shell

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F; then pierce the skins with a fork. Rub potatoes with oil and salt and bake directly on the rack for 30-45 minutes or until tender all the way through when pierced.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and prepare the potato shells by first cutting a small piece off of each end from the 8 potatoes. Scoop out the potato from the shell and place in a large bowl.
Stand the potato shells up in a muffin tin or oven safe dish, wide side up and brush the inside of the skins with the oil. Sprinkle with salt and bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove and set aside.
While the potato skins are in the oven, heat the milk, butter and garlic over medium heat until the butter has melted. Add the milk mixture and the pesto to the potatoes and mash with an electric mixer until the potatoes are stiff.
Finally, spoon potato mixture into shells making sure you stuff them all the way so they will not cave in as they bake. Drizzle each potato with some oil and salt and bake 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and heated through.

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