French Onion Baked Potato
Ceci est incroyable! Didn’t get an A in French (or anywhere close to that) but I do know how to say something is amazing. I also know all the words to ‘Lady Marmalade’ and ‘Frere Jacques’, shame those don’t count in Y9. I mean surely that’s more valuable than directing someone to the library? Or maybe that just highlights that I don’t often frequent the library…
France gave the world amazing cheese, incredible potato dishes (hello Aligot), crusty baguettes and the best soup going – french onion soup. God, it’s delicious. With it being winter, I like to stockpile carbs, like I’m hibernating, so I wanted to take a classic French onion soup and add a massive baked spud. It’s filling, warming and the perfect lunch for those colder months. A baked potato is one of the only meals that keeps me going til dinner without excessively snacking so let’s celebrate the humble baked potato more.
You can check out all my baked potato fillings here if ya fancy. I’m also not opposed to a cheeky prawn mayo topping, but I’ll save that recipe for Spring as I want the baked potato love to extend to every month.
Ingredients
- 2 Maris Pipers
- 2 brown onions, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 25g butter
- Truffle oil (optional - olive oil is fine!)
- 2 tbsp port or red wine
- 1 tsp truffle marmite (optional - normal marmite works well or you can leave it out)
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
- 1 heaped tbsp cream cheese
- 100g Gruyère, finely grated
- 2 slices of baguette
Method
- Bake your potatoes however you like - my favourite method is prick the potatoes all over, then drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and pop in the air fryer for 45-50 minutes on 200°c/400°f.
- Preheat a large frying pan over a medium heat and add in the butter and truffle oil. Throw in the onions and garlic then sweat off slowly for 35-40 minutes.
- Add in the thyme, vinegar, marmite (if using), port and brown sugar. Stir through and leave to continue caramelising for another 15-20 minutes.
- Slice off the top of the jacket potatoes with a sharp knife and scoop out the middles into a bowl. Mash the potato and stir through the cream cheese and 2 heaped tbsp of caramelised onions and season well with salt and pepper.
- Stuff the onion mixture back into the hollowed out jackets and top with a baguette slice and plenty of grated cheese, then pop onto a tray into the oven or air fryer on 200°c/400°f for 20 minutes to reheat and gratinate the cheese.