Irish Twice Baked Potatoes

Ingredients

I combined a recipe  for colcaccon and champ with twice baked potatoes! Voila! I invented something new and delicious- Irish Twice Baked Potatoes. I made these for a crowd as an appetizer, but they could also be a hearty side dish.

1. Take spinach out of the freezer and place bag into a bowl of cold water.
2. Wash potatoes.
3. Place still wet onto a plate and put into the microwave.
4. Cook on high heat for about 10 minutes. (You could also bake these in the oven, but it will take longer.)
5. Meanwhile, dice up onion and cabbage.
6. Shred  cheese
7. Place onion, cabbage and cheese into a large bowl.
   

   Combine all the ingredients until blended in a large bowl.

8. Remove potatoes from the microwave and make sure they are fork tender. If not continue cooking at 1 minute increments until they are done.
9. Carefully cut the potatoes in half vertically and allow them to cool for a few minutes.
   

   I thought these potatoes were pretty cut this way, but you could easily slice them in half the other way and bake them on a sheet pan.

10. Melt 2 tablespoons of your butter in the microwave. Use a pastry brush to brush the insides of 2 muffin tins.
11. Remove spinach from the water. Cut a small hole into the corner of the bag and carefully squeeze out as much water as you can. Then add spinach to the rest of the vegetables and cheese.
12. Carefully cut a very small piece of the potato off of each rounded end so that it stands up straight.  Use a spoon to scoop out the soft inside leaving a 1/4 inch edge of potato flesh. Place all potato parts into the large bowl with the rest of the ingredients. Repeat the process until all the potatoes are done.
13. Set the hollowed out potato halves inside the buttered muffin tin.
14. Mash the potato into the vegetables and cheese until it is well combined. It’s alright if it is a little lumpy.
15. TASTE! Add salt and pepper until you like it! I personally like extra pepper.
16. Fill the potatoes until they are heaped up with the cheesy mixture. You might have to press the filling down a bit.
    

    Don’t be afraid to mound up the cheese mixture on the potatoes.

17. Top each filled potato with a 1/2 teas of butter.
18. At this point you can cover and refrigerate the potatoes for baking later or you can place them into the oven set to 400 for about 30 minutes.
19. Bake until the top is golden and the cheese is oozing.

These were a hit! I made them several hours before our party and then baked them so I could pull them out just as guests arrived.