Cauliflower Cheese Baked Potatoes

Feeds 4

Cauliflower Cheese Baked Potatoes Photo: supplied

Ingredients

• 4 medium-sized baking potatoes (about 350g each)**
• 1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets
• 700ml milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 80g unsalted butter
• 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

**The truly perfect baked potato needs two things; a crisp, salty skin and a fluffy, snow-like flesh. Choose your potato carefully - you need a floury variety such as an Ilam Hardy, Fianna or Agria. Wash any mud from the spuds and scrub them with a vegetable brush. Prick in a couple of places with a fork - this step is important as you don't want them exploding in the oven. Roll each potato in salt then place directly on the middle rack in a 200˚C oven. Cook for about an hour then give them a squeeze - the potato should just give a little pressure from the thumb and forefinger. Remove from the oven and bring your hand down in a karate-chop motion to crack the skin, allowing the steam to escape. This causes the flesh to turn impressively fluffy rather than remain solid. Serve immediately with a reasonable amount of butter, or stuff to your heart's content.

Method

Heat the oven to 200˚C. Scrub the potatoes under cold running water and prick them a few times with a fork. Dust lightly with salt, leave to dry for a few minutes then place them directly on the bars of the oven rack and bake until the skin is crisp and the inside is soft and fluffy, about 1 hour. Remove the potatoes from the oven and slice the top off the potato.

Using a tablespoon, scrape the flesh from the potato and its lid into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the beater attachment. Mix briefly until the potato is smooth, but do not over mix or the starch will turn the potato in a sticky, gluey mess.
 
Put the cauliflower florets into a saucepan along with the milk and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer and cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 20 minutes. Drain, reserving the milk but discarding the bay leaves and set to one side
 
Mix the butter with the potato flesh and mix in the cauliflower and a splash of the milk, and combine. Spoon the mixture back into the empty shells, place on a baking sheet ad cover liberally with the cheese. Return to the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the top is golden and crisp.