Baked Potatoes with Cilantro Pesto

We have been reading our way through Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books.  The stories are beautifully written and transport me to a time and place that I will never know.  And the children are so well behaved.  The wonder and gratitude that they express when they receive an orange or a peppermint stick for Christmas makes me yearn for those simpler days. 

Wilder wrote those books well into her adult years (prompted by her daughter), but her attention to detail is amazing.  I really thought I might be able to build a log cabin after reading her description of Pa making one.  We had to take a breather after The Long Winter, though.  It is a phenomenal story of resilience and survival, but living in a wood cabin with blizzard winds whipping through the cracks and months of intense snow storms makes me happy to live in the age of brick, insulation, and furnaces. 

And, of course, there is the problem of the food.  At the beginning of the winter, the family's staples were bread, baked potatoes, and butter.  First the butter runs out, then the potatoes.  By the end, they were dipping into next year's seed wheat to make bread to survive.  Rough times.

Since we read that book, though, baked potatoes have become a regular item in our dinner rotation.  We have such a rich range of choices for toppings, but this pesto offers a taste of green spring, which I welcome after our own long winter.

Baked Potatoes with Cilantro Sauce

Serves 6
15 minutes preparation time
About 45 minutes baking time

6 large baking potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup parsley
1 cup cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil, preferably Spanish
a few generous pinches of sea salt
a couple of grinds of fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Using a fork, poke a few holes in each potato.  Place the potatoes directly on the oven rack and bake until they are tender, about 45 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes.

In a frying pan, toast the cumin over medium heat just until it is fragrant, about 1 minute.

Blend all of the remaining ingredients with the cumin in a food processor.  Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.  When the potatoes are done, split them open, smear them with the pesto, and dig in.

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Comments

[Andrea]

We started with "The Little House in the Big Woods" a while ago, but I think all the pig slaughter/tail roasting sort of put Ariana off....she's not been interested in continuing. However, we are enjoying Farmer Boy after our trip up there. There's some good eating in there!

[Jan (Family Bites)]

Mmmm...this looks like my kind of potato. We like to top our baked potatoes with tzatziki and even have "baked potato bar" night where we all top a single potato with our favourite combo of toppings.