Pizza Twice Baked Potatoes

When it comes to spending less at the grocery store, you can't get much cheaper than potatoes.  And if you have a garden, it's likely that you'll end up with a good harvest of potatoes, since they are so easy to grow.  The downfall?  Potatoes can become quite ho-hum if you eat them a lot--mashed, fried, baked--there's only so many ways to eat them. 

A remedy for boring potatoes?  Jazz them up a bit by making them pizza flavored; everyone likes pizza, right? 

This recipe calls for the skins being left on the potatoes, so if you can, try to use organic or home-grown potatoes (more than 35 chemicals have been found on the skins of potatoes).

Pizza Twice Baked Potatoes

Serves:  4

Ingredients:

4 medium potatoes

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2 cup diced pepperoni, plus 24 whole slices 

1 cup pizza sauce

Directions:

1.  Scrub your potatoes well and prick all over with a fork.  Bake in a 425 degree F oven until the potatoes are tender (about 45 minutes).

2.  Allow the potatoes to cool until they can be safely handled.  Cut each potato in half lengthwise.

 

3.  Using a spoon, scoop out the insides of each potato halve, leaving about 1/4 inch around as a shell to place your filling back in.  If your shell is too thin, it will probably break, so be careful that you don't scrape it all the way down to the peel.  As you are scooping, place the insides in a large bowl.

4.  Mash the potato insides with a fork.  To the potato insides, add 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella and the 1/2 cup diced pepperoni.  Mix well to combine.

5.  Place the potato shells on a cookie sheet.  Scoop the potato/cheese/pepperoni mixture back into the potato shells, dividing it equally among all eight of the shells.

6.  Top each stuffed potato with pizza sauce, the remaining mozzarella cheese, and 3 pepperoni slices on top of each.

7.  Place potatoes back into the 425 degree F oven and bake for 20 minutes.  EAT!