Take your baked potato up a notch

Try Clodagh McKenna’s salt baked potato with Irish trout caviar for a simple midweek supper that feels indulgent

Anyone else absolutely running out of ideas for what to eat in the evenings? You can’t go wrong with comforting favourites, but of course three lockdowns in, even the old reliables start to lose their appeal.

In the current issue of Irish Country Magazine, Clodagh McKenna shares three delicious dinners that you can have on the table in a flash, from her latest cookbook Clodagh’s Weeknight Kitchen.

One of those recipes is for hearty fish pie baked potatoes. That reminded us of this brilliantly simple recipe she shared with us a few years ago, for a baked potato topped with Irish trout caviar. Clodagh clearly knows that the humble spud is always a winner.

SALT-BAKED POTATO WITH CRÈME FRAICHE & IRISH TROUT CAVIAR

Serves four

Ingredients:

• 4 small baking potatoes, unpeeled and washed
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 200ml crème fraîche
• 1 tablespoon rapeseed oil
• 40g trout caviar
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6.
2. Place the potatoes on a baking tray and bake for 40 minutes.
3. Remove the baked potatoes from the oven and leave until cool enough to handle, then cut them in half lengthways and scoop out the potato flesh into a bowl, leaving the skins intact.
4. Season the potato flesh with salt and pepper, mash with a fork and then mix in the parsley and 120ml of the crème fraîche. Spoon the potato mixture back into the potato skins, place on the baking tray and brush the skins with the rapeseed oil so that they are crisp.
5. Bake for 15 minutes until the filling is heated through and the skins are crispy.
6. Remove the filled potato skins from the oven and spoon the remaining crème fraîche on top, followed by a spoonful of the trout caviar. And serve.