It snowed this weekend. Not flurries – I can live with those. I’m talking about big, fat snowflakes. They didn’t stick, but they did incite some yelling and a few not-so-nice words. I guess summer is really over.

On the plus side, that means I can finally share this recipe for pot roast stuffed baked potatoes. I photographed it back when it was still way to nice outside to be at home with the oven on all afternoon, but it’s perfect for this time of year. It’s pretty much the ultimate cozy weekend comfort food.

I’ve always been a huge fan of pot roast – I grew up eating it every week – but serving it stuffed inside of fluffy baked potatoes was a new idea for me. It makes so much sense though! It’s so easy to overeat when you serve pot roast over mashed potatoes, but this way it’s like built-in portion control. You get one baked potato and about 1/4 cup of pot roast – just enough to leave you satisfied but no stuffed.

The pot roast recipe I’m sharing here is full of delicious, earthy flavors like caramelized onions, mushrooms, and red wine. I also throw in a palm full of whole black peppercorns. They soften as they cook and give you little bursts of peppery flavor as you eat. In my world, no pot roast is complete without them.

A generous splash of balsamic vinegar stirred in at the end adds a touch of bright flavor to the recipe. I also love to top it with gremolata, a mixture of finely chopped parsley, lemon zest, and shallot. It picks everything up and prevents the flavors of the dish from getting to muddled. A dollop of sour cream or plain Greek yogurt is also a welcome addition.

Since you’re putting to much thought and care into the pot roast, it’s important to make sure your baked potatoes are perfect, too.

For baking, Idaho® Russetts are a perfect choice. They’re low-moisture, so they bake up nice and fluffy inside and the skins get shatteringly crisp.

I rub the potato skins with oil and sprinkle them with sea salt to highlight the flavor of the skins, then bake them directly on the rack of my oven. They take about an hour, which means if you add them when the pot roast is halfway done everything will be ready at the same time.

For more potato recipes, try this, this, or this.

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Pot Roast Stuffed Baked Potatoes with Gremolata

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 2 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours

Servings 6

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 1 ½ pounds chuck shoulder
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion diced
• 2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• ¼ cup red wine
• 1 ½ cups low sodium beef stock
• ½ cup water
• 6 Idaho® Russett potatoes
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• sea salt
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 lemon zested
• 1 small bunch parsley chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• sour cream for serving if desired

Instructions

• Heat the oven to 400ºF. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper.
• Set a large oven-proof pot over high heat. Add the oil. Cook the beef for 5 minutes on each side, or until deeply browned. Transfer to a plate.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions and garlic to the pot and cook 5 minutes, or until soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms, rosemary, peppercorns, and tomato paste; cook for 1 minute. Stir in the wine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Return the beef to the pot; add the beef stock and water; bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and transfer to the oven.
• After 1 hour, poke the potatoes several times with a fork. Rub them with the vegetable oil and sprinkle them with sea salt. Place them in the oven, directly on the rack.
• After another hour, check the potatoes for doneness – the skin should be crispy and the insides should feel tender. When the potatoes are done, remove them and the pot roast from the oven. Use two forks to shred the pot roast; it should be very tender and fall apart easily.
• Stir in the balsamic vinegar and let the shredded meat rest in the pan juices for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, prepare the gremolata by mixing together the lemon zest, parsley, and garlic cloves.
• To serve, cut a slit in the center of each potato, lengthwise. Gently squeeze the opposite ends toward each other to help it open up. (If necessary, you can use a spoon to scoop out some of the inside of the potato.) Spoon about 1/4 cup of pot roast into each potato. Top with gremolata and sour cream, if desired.

I developed this recipe for my client, Idaho® potatoes. Be sure to check out their web site for tons of amazing potato recipe ideas!

Last week, it rained and rained and rained. It was grey and gross and completely terrible. It rained so much that my poor roof couldn’t take it anymore; I woke up one morning to find a big chunk of my ceiling on the floor. It was literally raining in my kitchen. Awesome.

Comfort food was totally a necessity. And what says comfort more than pot pie stuffed full of rich, spicy curry?

If you’re looking for a quick weeknight meal, the curry filling is delicious over rice. I made it extra thick, so it would hold up when I sliced into my pie, and it’s heavily spiced but not spicy.  Baked inside of a buttery pie crust, it’s absolutely delicious. Rich, cozy, and perfect for the fifth consecutive day of rain.

It’s full of pantry staples, so I didn’t even have to go out in the rain to buy ingredients. Score!

The filling is really simple. It’s basically onion, potato, carrots, peas, and just about every spice under the sun. Instead of chicken, I used tofu and I loved the way it came out!

It was my first time using Mori-Nu tofu, and I really liked it. It’s made inside an airtight, shelf stable package so it doesn’t require refrigeration (it’s the tofu I mentioned recently when I did my pantry makeover). It keeps for a year, so it’s definitely handy to have around! Since it’s never pressed or drained, it’s technically all silken tofu – even though it comes in different varieties. I used the organic firm tofu, and the texture was amazing! It’s custardy and not spongey at all. It reminded me a lot of the texture of fresh mozzarella. It also did a great job at soaking up the flavors in the curry sauce.

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Tofu Curry Pot Pie

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Lauren Keating

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• cloves garlic minced
• 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon madras curry powder
• 1 tablespoon double-concentrated tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 2 ½ cups water
• ½ lemon juiced
• 2 potatoes chopped
• 2 carrots chopped
• salt and pepper
• 1 package Mori-Nu Firm Organic Tofu
• 1 cup frozen peas
• ¼ cup cilantro chopped
• 1 double pie crust unbaked
• 1 egg beaten

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil in deep saute pan. Add the onion, ginger, and garlic; cook 5 minutes, or until soft. Stir in the spices and cook 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and flour; cook 1 minute. Add the water, lemon juice, potatoes, and carrots; bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft and the liquid thickens (you should have about 4 cups of curry). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in tofu, peas and cilantro.
• Heat oven to 420ºF.
• Roll out the pie crust. Place the bottom crust in a pie pan. Fill with curry and cover with the top crust; crimp the edges. Brush the top pie crust with egg. Cut several slits in the top crust for ventilation.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Mori-nu. The opinions and text are all mine.