Ina Garten’s Baked Potatoes: My Husband Says They’re The Best He’s Ever Had

Nancy Mock For Taste of Home

Baked potatoes are an simple side meal or a light meal—but that doesn’t mean they have to be ho-hum! And no one understands muchbetter than the Barefoot Contessa herself about how to take daily favorites and prepare them in a method that’s additional unique and additional delicious.

Her baked potatoes have incredibly crispy exteriors skilled with rosemary and thyme. She tops them with an simple, appetizing whipped feta cheese mix that simply melts into the tender within of these potatoes. Paired with Ina’s beef tenderloin, what might be muchbetter than that?

What makes Ina’s baked potatoes various?

Ina has 2 strategies that truly make these baked potatoes stand out. The veryfirst is that she coats the whole potato with a mix of salt, enthusiasm and herbs to offer the spuds a huge increase of taste. The 2nd is she bakes her potatoes without any foil; the direct heat of the oven crisps up the oil and herb-coated potato skins while the insides endedupbeing fluffy and tender.

Potatoes as tasty as these areworthyof more than simply the typical pat of butter or spoonful of sour cream—that’s why Ina tops them with a abundant whipped feta topping made with lemon juice and olive oil. The outcome is a baked potato that’s extremely indulgent, one that had my partner and me racing for seconds.

How to Make Ina Garten’s Baked Potatoes

Ina’s dish makes 4 servings, one potato per serving. Plan for about an hour and 15 minutes overall of preparation and baking time.

Ingredients

Nancy Mock For Taste of Home

• 1 tablespoon sliced fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• Grated enthusiasm of 1 big lemon
• 1 tablespoon coarse fleur de sel or sea salt
• 4 big Idaho baking potatoes (about 8 to 10 ounces each)
• Good olive oil
• Chopped fresh chives or scallion greens

Whipped Feta:

• 6 ounces Greek feta cheese, collapsed
• 2 ounces cream cheese at space temperaturelevel
• 1/3 cup excellent olive oil
• 2 tablespoons newly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Step 1: Make the herb mix

Preheat the oven to 400°F, and line a baking sheet with foil. Place the sliced rosemary, thyme leaves, lemon enthusiasm and fleur de sel in the bowl of a mini food processor. If you wear’t have a little food processor, you can usage a mixer for this action. Pulse the processor upuntil the components are carefully minced. Spread the mix on a shallow plate.

Step 2: Prepare the potatoes

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Scrub the potatoes tidy and dry them well. Pierce them all over with a fork (this permits steam to escape while cooking). Pour some olive oil on a little rimmed plate. Roll each potato in the olive oil to coat them all over. Then, roll each potato in the herb-salt mix to entirely cover them. Place the covered potatoes on the lined baking sheet.

Step 3: Bake the taters

Slide the sheet pan into the oven and bake the potatoes for 60 to 75 minutes till they’re entirely tender and quickly pierced with a fork.

Step 4: Meanwhile, make the whipped feta

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While the potatoes are baking, collapse the feta cheese into the bowl of a food processor. Cube the softened cream cheese and include this as well; then run the food processor to integrate the cheeses. Pour in the 1/3 cup of olive oil and the lemon juice, and spray in the salt and pepper. Process the activeingredients till they’re mixed, scraping the bowl down assoonas or twotimes. Keep the whipped feta in the refrigerator upuntil the potatoes are prepared.

Step 5: Top and serve

Nancy Mock For Taste of Home

Use a sharp knife to slit the tops of each baked potato. Squeeze the ends of each potato, pressing them towards the center, to open them up and expose the soft withins. Top each potato with a generous scoop of whipped feta, followed by a spray of sliced chives or scallion greens. Serve them while they’re hot and melty, with any remaining whipped feta on the side.

Tips for Making Ina Garten’s Baked Potatoes

Nancy Mock For Taste of Home

Is block feta or pre-crumbled feta muchbetter?

While those plans of pre-crumbled feta cheese are practical, for the really best whipped topping, whole obstructs of fresh feta cheese are your finest bet. That’s duetothefactthat the pre-crumbled bits of feta are normally layered with ingredients to keep them apart, which implies they won’t be as smooth when whipped. (The exactsame is real of pre-shredded cheese.) It’s worth the additional time to fallapart feta yourself.

How do you whip feta cheese without a food processor?

You can make the whipped feta mix in a mixer, beginning with the cheeses and then followed by the liquids, salt and pepper. Another alternative is a hand mixer, which will likewise be able to procedure the components into a velvety mix.

Should baked potatoes be covered in foil?

Save the foil for when you’re making campfire potatoes, and avoid it for oven-baked potatoes. Why? The foil will hold in steam as the potato cooks, which avoids the skin from getting excellent and crispy. (That’s a crucial part of Ina’s dish!) The foil layer might likewise sluggish the baking, significance the potatoes will take longer to endedupbeing tender.

What kind of salt does Ina Garten utilize?

When Ina calls for kosher salt in her dishes, she constantly has one specific type in mind: Diamond Kosher Salt, which has extremely big crystals. For these potatoes, though, she calls for another large-crystal salt; a sea salt understood as Fleur de Sel. If you wear’t have these and requirement to alternative finer-grained sea salts or table salt, usage less than what’s called for—otherwise the food might taste too salty.