Baked Potato Pizza — The Sunday After the Message

Travis sent a message Tuesday night. The first substantive contact from him since 1998. Twenty-five years almost to the month. I read the message Wednesday morning after Brayden had gone to daycare. I have not responded. The week has been the kind of week the calendar keeps for moments like this. Brayden is eighty-five weeks old. The Sunday after the message is today.

The baked potato pizza is the cafe’s small Friday-night experimental dish that Cody had developed last summer and that Mama had refused to add to the regular menu — a thin pizza-crust topped with thin-sliced baked potato, garlic-and-rosemary olive oil, mozzarella, bacon, sour cream drizzle. The pizza is the kind of fusion-dish that takes the loaded-baked-potato concept and translates it into a pizza form. It is also the kind of dish that requires a particular Sunday to want to make.

I do not know yet what I am going to do with the message. I will write more about that when I have a clearer picture of it. The writing-it-down is the part I am keeping for the lifelog rather than for the blog. The blog gets the recipe. The lifelog gets the rest.

Sunday I made the pizza. Dustin had three slices. Brayden had a small piece of plain potato from the topping. The pizza was the Sunday-dinner the week had been moving toward.

Aunt Linda’s small twice-weekly Tulsa-visits continue. She arrives at two PM. She stays for two hours. She holds Brayden (and later helps with both kids). She drinks the small cup of coffee I keep ready. We talk through the small week’s family-news. The small visits are the small social-thread that connects the Tulsa-apartment-life to the small Sapulpa-extended-family.

Brayden’s small developmental milestones have been arriving on the small typical-schedule. The pediatrician has been pleased at the small monthly check-ins. The small baby-and-now-toddler life continues to be the small foreground of the small family-of-three rhythm.

Baked Potato Pizza

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 65 min | Total Time: 75 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed
• 1/2 cup canned pizza sauce or tomato sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella or any shredded cheese
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat & prep. Preheat your oven to 400°F. Scrub the potatoes well and pierce each one several times with a fork so steam can escape.
2. Bake the potatoes. Place potatoes directly on the oven rack and bake for 50–60 minutes, until a fork slides in easily at the thickest part.
3. Cool & hollow. Remove potatoes and let them cool for 10 minutes so they’re safe to handle. Slice each potato in half lengthwise. Scoop out most of the flesh with a spoon, leaving a 1/4-inch shell. (Save the scooped potato for another meal — mashed potatoes, soup, anything.)
4. Season the skins. Brush the inside of each potato half lightly with vegetable oil. Sprinkle with garlic powder, oregano, salt, and pepper.
5. Add the toppings. Spread 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce inside each half. Top with shredded cheese, diced onion, bell pepper, and olives if using.
6. Bake again. Return the loaded potato halves to the oven and bake for 10–12 minutes, until the cheese is melted and starting to bubble at the edges.
7. Serve. Let cool for 2–3 minutes before serving. These are hot — remind the kids.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 225 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 8g | Carbs: 31g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 390mg