Is it Spring Yet?? (Twice-Baked Potatoes & Eggs Florentine)

If you like your eggs runny,
eat 'em right out of the oven!

To say that it has been a long cold winter is an understatement - and the Carolinas have had a relatively pretty easy time of it compared to our friends in the North and Midwest. With this mindset, I spent a good part of today working on a new recipe that screams Easter Brunch -- bacony, cheesey twice-baked potatoes with an egg cooked smack dab in the middle. Who can't love that!?!

I wrote, tested and photographed this for my little magazine gig today and then did a final taste test with a group of neighbors.  The verdict - don't change a thing!

That said, if you don’t like spinach? Leave it out. Prefer sausage to bacon? Switch it up. In other words, use your imagination —  in my world, it is perfectly okay to play with your food. 

Here's how I did it:

Twice-Baked Potatoes & Eggs Florentine

Basic recipe and method with one potato serves 2, use your multiplication skills to serve more

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2 slices bacon, cooked crisp, drained and chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1 Russet potato, scrubbed and dried
• 1/4 cup regular or low-fat cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (or thickly shredded)
• 1/4 cup regular or low-fat sour cream 
• 1/4 cup fresh baby spinach, thinly sliced (roll a stack of leaves and cut 1/8 inch slices)
• 1/8 cup onion, sautéed in a drizzle of olive oil
• 1 TBS softened butter
• 2 TBS Parmesan cheese, fine grated
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt + plus a small pinch to season the eggs
• 1/4 tsp black pepper + plus a few grinds to season the eggs

Neighborhood tasting -
The verdict: don't change a thing

Method

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

• Prick the potato a few times with a fork or sharp knife, rub it with with olive oil and sprinkle on a little Kosher salt; then bake in the oven for 45 - 55 minutes or until it gives when pressed. Remove to cool slightly. Lower the oven to 375 degrees.
• When the potatoes are cool enough to handle,  cut them in half and gently scoop out the flesh, leaving about 1/8 of an inch around the outside. I like to run a sharp knife around the perimeter and then scoop the flesh out into a bowl with a small ice cream scoop, but a spoon will work fine. Set the potato skins onto a baking sheet.
• Mash the potato with a fork or potato masher - it does not need to be totally smooth, but make it as crumbly as you can. Add in the sour cream, sautéed onions, butter, Kosher salt and pepper. Stir until combined and then mix in the cheese and spinach.
• Now spoon the potato mixture into the potato skins. Use the back of a spoon and your clean fingers to create deep wells for the eggs.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and then one-by-one, crack an egg into a small bowl and slide it into the center of a potato. Season with a bit of salt and pepper. Repeat for each egg/potato.
• Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 15 -25  minutes, or until the egg whites are set and the yolk is done to your liking. They will look shiny and underdone, but they will continue to cook after you remove them from the oven.

Enjoy.