During the early days of my PhD, this dish became a classic standby. In part, for the usual reasons of being relatively inexpensive, straightforward, and typically using up things I already had in my fridge: yoghurt from my morning breakfasts, bacon probably left over from weekend brunch. It also became part of my fortnightly recipe rotation because it was just so goddamn comforting. The potato tasting so sweet, the feta creamy and salty, with the onion and bacon further accenting both those flavours while adding the oh so necessary crunch, thereby saving it all from becoming baby food. 

I’ve described this take on the baked potato as a ‘Soft Landing’, and I really mean that. I’d usually end up having this early to mid-week because these were the days that I’d already feel so bogged down with the various challenges of my research and its accompanying existential angst, whilst hating that the weekend was still far away. I’d feel so frustrated, frazzled and sad that comfort food - which wasn’t as guilt-inducing as a fat bowl of pasta - was what I needed. Saying that, it is filling, mind you.

This is a dish that calls for a night in, with pyjamas, when you can pop on the oven ahead of time and calmly wait for the potato to thoroughly bake, only needing to finish up the toppings during the final 15 minutes of cooking time. Before that, I’d recommend using the baking time to pick out something uplifting yet slow-paced to watch (my recommendation: anything narrated by David Attenborough). Otherwise, any form of gentle pottering would be just the thing. 

A few notes on the recipe

Feel free to increase the amount of sweet potatoes (and in doing so, the topping ingredients) if you are cooking for other people, or want to make a packed lunch. Of course, if your potato is, contrary to the recipe, small or especially large, modify the topping ingredient amounts accordingly.

And yes, this does indeed use the whipped feta from A Welcome Interlude: Toast, Three Ways recipe. Sue me.