Tuna Twice Baked Potato

Or I could have called this Tuna once-microwaved-once-baked potato, but it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it!

Last week I began the quite frankly scary task of trying to work out what appliances, kitchen utensils, furniture, bedding and any number of other things we need for our new home. Our first home! Since we are living in a furnished flat a lot of the things you think a food blogger would own, I don’t. For example I own frying pans, a saute pan, and a Le Creuset Casserole dish, but I don’t have any standard pots with lids.

I don’t have a slotted spoon, or a fish slice, or a microwave… but do I need one? I asked a quick question on twitter to see who had microwaves, who didn’t, and what they used them for.

It seems that very few people have microwaves and those who do barely use them. Some people use them to make porridge during the winter months, or defrost frozen foods, or to make the odd ready meal. The fact is that I rarely use the microwave I have at the moment. The one thing I would miss would be baked potatoes.

Or at least baked potatoes that can be ready in 15 minutes – 10 mins in the microwave, 5 under the grill to brown the skins. It’s a perfect quick healthy lunch. Especially good now that summer is starting to turn distinctly more autumnal.

My impending loss of being able to make quick baked potatoes spurred me on to make this. The recipe is from a memory of something my Mum used to make, in fact this dish is still one of the only ways I like tinned tuna.

Twice Baked Tuna Potato

~ serves two, for a large lunch. Great with a small side salad.

  • 2 baked potatoes
  • 1 small tin of tuna, in spring water
  • 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise
  • lots of ground black pepper
  • 1 large egg
  • broken up florets of broccoli, optional

First “bake” your potatoes, depending on preference, what equipment you have available and time you can either bake your potatoes in the oven, or cook them in the microwave for 10 minutes (turning them over mid way through). Remember if cooking in the microwave to prick the skins, so they don’t explode!

Once the potatoes are just cooked through, slice each in half. Scoop out the insides leaving at least a 1/4 inch around the skin, place the scooped out potato in a small bowl.

Preheat your oven to 200oC.

Place the potato skins on a baking tray.

Into the bowl of potato add the tuna, mayonnaise, black pepper and broken up broccoli, mix well until all the tuna is flaked up. Then add the egg, again mixing well.

Add a quarter of the mixture to each potato skin half, and then place in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the top starts to brown.

So for the moment I am leaving the microwave on the “wait-and-see” pile, once we move in I’ll see how quickly I change my mind!

Do you have a microwave? What do you use it for?