Smashed Crispy Potatoes Family Style

This is comfort food to the max, and we all need a little right now, am I right?

So funny story… everyone got that text/email about the 2 week mandatory national shut down that was “from a legit source”, right? We got it at 9:38pm on Sunday night and Matt flew off the couch and ran to the store before I could utter a word. These are stressful and uncertain times, so I get it. He wants to keep everything as stable as it can be for our kids and that definitely means not running out of milk. But it was amusing when he returned with copious amounts of bacon and broccoli, I mean aggressively large amounts of both. Panic shopping.. but cool, cool. Let’s make something great.  Soup was quickly vetoed by my crew so I went outside the box, sort of.

Smashed baby potatoes cooked crisp, topped with steamed broccoli, smothered in cheddar cheese and sprinkled with bacon. Yes, please! We ate these family style off a platter in the middle of our table. Very much reminiscent of the crispy potato skins of my youth!

 

 

 

Smashed Crispy Potatoes Family Style

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb bag of baby yellow skinned potatoes
  • 1 12 oz package of bacon cut into small pieces
  • A couple of heads of broccoli cut into small florets
  • 2 Cups grated sharp cheddar
  • Sour cream for serving
  • Salt & pepper
  • Olive oil

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Fill large pot 3/4  full with water and place washed potatoes in pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue to boil until you can easily insert a fork in to the potato- keep checking and be careful not to over cook.
  3. Once you can insert fork easily, turn the heat off from the pot. Remove potatoes from pot using a slotted spoon and place on a kitchen towel lined bowl.
  4. Add broccoli florets to the hot water in the pot and let sit while you get everything else ready.
  5. Heat a cast iron skillet or saute pan over medium high heat and add diced bacon. Stirring frequently, cook until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined plate.
  6. Now that the potatoes are cool to handle, place all of them on the parchment lined baking sheet. Using the palm of your hand gently smash each potato. Drizzle each with olive oil and salt and pepper.
  7. Check the doneness of the broccoli after sitting in the hot water, it should be tender crisp. Turn on the pot if it needs more cooking. Once done, drain the broccoli.
  8. Roast the potatoes in the 450 degree oven until the edges brown and the bottoms are crispy.
  9. Remove the potatoes from the oven and scatter the cooked broccoli on the pan. Then sprinkle with cheese and bacon. Place back in the oven until the cheese is melted and a little golden.
  10. Remove pan from oven and carefully slide the parchment paper on to a serving platter. Top with a few dollops of sour cream and serve!

 

And a little bonus activity. Children’s writer, Mo Willems, is hosting an lunch time doodle live. You can print out the drawing activity before it starts too. He is soothing and calm and my kids LOVED this today!

https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/

 

 

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