Beef and Cheese Stuffed Potatoes

Wash the potato skins well. Start to heat up water in a pot and when it begins to boil, add the potatoes whole and cook for 10 minutes. They need to become tender, but still be a bit hard at the same time.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Cut the potatoes in half and remove the flesh, leaving a nice space inside each half. You will use this space to put the filling. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and spray or rub oil onto each half. Add some salt and place into the oven while you make the filling (about 20 minutes).

Mince the garlic, onion, mushrooms, and carrot into small pieces. Heat up oil in a pan and add the garlic and onion first and cook for 5 minutes. Add the carrot and mushrooms and cook for about 10 more minutes. When the vegetables are tender, add the crushed tomato, oregano, pepper, pinch of salt, and ground beef. Stir and let the flavors blend for another 5minutes.

Take the potatoes out of the oven and carefully spread cream cheese into each half and layer some shredded cheese on top. Next, add the beef filling to each half.

Return the potatoes to the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes and voila!

You can use the leftover potato flesh from when you emptied out the potatoes as a side dish for another recipe.

The time necessary to cook the potatoes well, whether it's in the pot or the oven all depends on their size. The best way for perfectly cooked potatoes is to check on them every so often.

If you have leftover filling, try adding it to a pasta and you will have a new dish ready in no time.