The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Ingredients:
1 pound thin bacon
16 russet potatoes
6 tablespoons canola oil
4 sticks (1 pound) salted butter, plus more for buttering baking dish
2 cups sour cream
2 cups grated Cheddar or Jack (or a mix of both), plus more for topping
2 cups whole milk
4 teaspoons seasoned salt
6 green onions, sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions:
Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees F. Next, prepare the bacon. Cook it in a sauté pan or skillet until it is crispy. Once it has cooked, allow the bacon to cool and then crumble up. You may need to crumble it using a fork.
Next, scrub the potatoes to make sure they are clean then place them on a baking sheet. Rub the potatoes with canola oil and place the baking sheet in the oven. Bake the potatoes until they are tender, which will take approximately 45 minutes to one hour. Once the potatoes are baked, remove them from the oven and lower the heat to 350 degrees F.
Next, slice the putter up into cubes and place them in a large mixing bowl. Add the bacon and sour cream into the mixing bowl as well. Then, slice each potato in half lengthwise and scrape out the insides into the mixing bowl. Use caution as the potatoes may still be hot.
Then, tear up the skins and add them to the bowl as well. Next, smash the ingredients together with a potato smasher and add the cheese, milk, seasoned salt, green peppers and salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl together well to make sure it the ingredients are well dispersed throughout the whole mixture.
Once you have mixed it all together, butter a baking dish. Then, use a large spoon or plastic spatula to put the mixture into the dish. Top the casserole with more grated cheese and bake it for approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
Take out of the oven, allow to cool, and enjoy hot!
Commentary:
As Thanksgiving is quickly coming up and as are finals, I enjoy making comfort food. This recipe makes a large amount of casserole, approximately 16 servings, so it would work great as a side dish for Thanksgiving. It also works great if, with the stress of the semester ending, you and your roommates want left overs and something that is easy to reheat and ready to eat. However, if you’re not wanting to make as much you can also modify the recipe to use less potatoes and make less.
I enjoy this dish as especially when the weather gets cooler it’s great to eat. It can be eaten as a side dish, and pairs well with steak. It can also be eaten as a main with a salad as a side. The casserole itself is quite easy to make, the preparation stage just takes a little while. However, once it is made it’s definitely a crowd pleaser!