You could make a basic baked potato, sure. Or, you could take all of the things that make French Onion Soup great – sweet, savory, brothy caramelized onions, nutty Gruyere cheese – and tuck it into a baked potato and make it SO much more than basic. I think I’ll go with the latter, thank you very much. While these stuffed baked potatoes are maybe a bit much for every day, they’re so well worth the small amount of effort they take. A fluffy potato turns out to be a natural companion to rich and hearty French onion flavor, making for one seriously yummy mashup.
While your potatoes bake, you can use the time to start caramelizing your onions. Good caramelization does take some patience and time since you want to use a low temp to avoid scorching your onions instead of coaxing those sugars out slowly. Once the onions are soft and golden, you deglaze the pan with a bit of sherry or wine… and you’re ready to hollow out your potatoes. To really make sure these are meal-sized, you slice off the top third of the potato and remove all the flesh to a bowl.
Ingredients:
4 large baked potatoes
4 tablespoons butter
4 onions, halved and thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup sherry or dry white wine
1 cup beef stock
2 cups Gruyere cheese, grated
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Directions:
Step 1: Ready the oven and preheat to 190 degrees C or 375 degrees F.
Step 2: Place a large skillet on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high.
Step 3: Add the butter and allow it to melt.
Step 4: Add the onions and sauté’ until translucent. Season with thyme, salt, and pepper to taste. Cook until the onions caramelized.
Step 5: Deglaze the pan with wine and sherry. Pour in the stock and allow it to boil. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated.
Step 6: Slice and scoop the top of the potatoes and place them in a medium mixing bowl. Add in 1/2 of the caramelized onion and stir until well mixed.
Step 7: Fill each potato shell with the mixture and place them on the prepared baking sheet.
Step 8: Top each filled shell with the gruyere cheese and the onions.
Step 9: Bake inside the preheated oven until the cheese has melted completely.
Step 10: Remove from the oven and let it sit at room temperature to cool.
Step 11: Bon Appetit!
Note:
For more colour, broil the potatoes for 1 minute on high setting.