Baked potatoes with cheese sauce

Name: Baked potatoes with cheese sauce
Ingredients: 1 kg potatoes boiled in their skins; 100 g grated semi-hard cheese; 250 g Romanian brânză de burduf sheep’s cheese; 15 g fresh dill; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper; 100 g Goldessa Green Pepper white-rinded cheese with peppercorns; 100 g Milkana Creamy Blue blue cheese; 1 tablespoon (15 ml) heavy cream with at least 20% fat; 1/4 teaspoon dried basil; 5-6 black tomatoes

Appetizers - Baked potatoes with cheese sauce by Melina N. - Recipia

For lunch, baked potatoes with cheese sauce are served warm, with balls that are browned on the outside and soft in the middle. The potatoes, boiled in their skins, are finely grated and mixed with semi-hard cheese, Romanian brânză de burduf sheep’s cheese and dill, then baked, while the blue cheeses melt into a creamy sauce. I prefer to grate the potatoes while they’re still a little warm, for a smooth mixture. Prep: 20 minutes. Cooking: 45-55 minutes. Total time: 65-75 minutes. Serves: 4. Approximately 700 kcal and 31 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes boiled in their skins
100 g grated semi-hard cheese
250 g Romanian brânză de burduf sheep’s cheese
15 g fresh dill
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

For the sauce

100 g Goldessa Green Pepper white-rinded cheese with peppercorns
100 g Milkana Creamy Blue blue cheese
1 tablespoon (15 ml) heavy cream with at least 20% fat
1/4 teaspoon dried basil

To serve

5-6 black tomatoes

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C for 10 minutes. 2. Peel the potatoes that were boiled in their skins and grate them finely. Add the semi-hard cheese, brânză de burduf, dill, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper; mix until well combined. 3. Shape into balls and arrange them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until browned. 4. In a small saucepan, melt the white-rinded cheese with peppercorns and the blue cheese together with the cream over low heat for 5 minutes, until you have a creamy sauce. Sprinkle over the dried basil. 5. Wash the black tomatoes and serve them alongside the potatoes and sauce.

Notes

I originally wanted to make baked brânză de burduf cheese balls, but the cheese was so fatty that the balls spread out on the tray; so I decided to add potatoes and make the sauce separately. Floury potatoes grate and hold together more easily than waxy ones, and brânză de burduf can be quite salty, so taste the mixture before adding more salt. The black tomatoes are served on the plate; a simple green salad goes well with them too. The dish can be kept covered in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheated slowly, stirring. The dill can be replaced with 15 g of parsley. The dish contains dairy.