Cheesy Roasted Potato Packets

Last night I wanted to make a dish using some fingerling potatoes and cheddar we had on hand, and ended up looking to a recipe of “Potatoes in Paper” for ideas. I changed it up a bit, and would change it even further, so here’s my version. I expect this would work really well on the grill, too:

Cheesy Roasted Potato Packets

Serves 4. You might want to make these right on a cookie sheet or other such surface so you can slide them easily in and out of the oven.

• Fingerling potatoes, baby potatoes, or sliced potatoes: 2 lb (If using sliced whole potatoes, use one large potato per packet)
• Herbed olive oil, 2 T*
• Broth or stock, vegetable or chicken, 1/2 cup
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Grated cheddar to taste (roughly 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Get out four large squares of aluminum foil.

Put a half pound of washed potatoes or potato slices or chunks on each foil square and bring up the sides to form a cup.

Drizzle 1/2 T herbed olive oil (*or a little olive oil with fresh herbs of your choice) over the potatoes in each packet. Pour 2 T broth into each packet and season with salt and pepper. Draw the foil squares closed over the potatoes. Roast the packets for 60 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Open packets, empty each into a bowl or onto a plate, and grate cheddar overtop to suit individual tastes—I recommend trying a couple tablespoons per serving. Be sure to add the cheese while the potatoes are still quite hot so it melts well.

…Per Person

In case you want to scale this up or down, here are the amounts per packet. You should also be able to do this recipe in one baking dish covered with a lid or foil.

• Fingerling potatoes, baby potatoes, or sliced potatoes: 1/2 lb
• Herbed olive oil, 1/2 T*
• Broth or stock, vegetable or chicken, 2 T
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Grated cheddar to taste (about 2 T)

By the way, this recipe assembly-lines really well.

Next time I want to try this with chunks of sweet potato, cinnamon, brown sugar, salt, and butter.