I love jacket potatoes but recently I have fallen in love with SWEET jacket potatoes! They are so flavourful and when I add my favourite tomato and herb filling, they simply become irresistible! This is a very easy and nutritious vegetarian / vegan meal (if you skip the cheese) and it contains lots of plant-based protein!
The potatoes take about an hour to bake in the oven but the recipe is actually really easy and the prep time is about 10 -15 minutes. You can use any beans you like, you can even mix them with some chickpeas as well. If I make two sweet jacket potatoes I normally use 1 can of red kidney beans, but if I am going to make more, I use 2. Sometimes the second can is chickpeas instead of beans and I get a really tasty mixture for the potatoes.
In the last couple of years the white potatoes are slowly losing their popularity amongst the healthy eaters because they are considered “carbs” with high GI. Let’s not forget that the regular potatoes are a vegetable after all and they are very unlikely to cause weight gain if eaten in a healthy way (not in the form of fried chips and crisps). GI is not the only thing you should consider when judging the “healthiness” of a food. Sweet potatoes contain higher levels of some vitamins (Vitamin A), but what most people don’t know is that regular potatoes contain more protein. Both are very satisfying energy-rich foods, which should be part of your diet. You can read a full nutritional comparison between the two in this very interesting article here. You can make this recipe with regular potatoes as well but I do think that the rich flavour of the sweet potatoes is what makes this a really delicious vegetarian meal. No matter which one you choose, I am sure you will love the end result. These sweet jacket potatoes really are one of my favourite meals!
Ingredients
- 2 medium-large sweet potatoes (or regular potatoes)
- 1 cup passata
- 1 can (400 g) beans of your choice (try to buy organic without any added salt)
- 1 tbsp dried basil (you can add fresh as well)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- grated cheddar or Parmesan cheese (enough to cover both potatoes)
- 3-5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/ 430°F. Wash the potatoes clean and dry them, pierce them a few times with a fork.
- Cut 2 large pieces of aluminium foil and drizzle some olive oil in the middle and sprinkle some salt. Put each potato in the middle of the foil and wrap it so there are no gaps.
- Bake in the oven for 1 hour or until they are soft. Meanwhile, heat a pan to a low - medium temperature and add about 3 tbsp of olive oil. Put the beans in the pan and stir for 2-3 minutes. Add the passata, basil, salt and pepper and let it cook for about 5-10 minutes and then turn off the heat and wait until your potatoes are cooked.
- When the potatoes are done, make a cut across and distribute the bean filling equally between the two. Top with some grated cheese and put back in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
