Smashed Potatoes with Green Onions and Crispy Pepperoni

It seem like I'm seeing Smashed Potatoes everywhere lately - in the feed of blogs I follow, on Pinterest, Facebook, etc. I tend to steer clear of things like that figuring if I'm seeing it everywhere, you probably are too, so why do you want/need to see it again here. Well too bad! I had a bag of small red potatoes, so I smashed them, and I have no regrets!  ;)

To be honest, unless I was making a ginormous batch of these to serve on Superbowl Sunday or something like that, I probably wouldn't bother to make them intentionally. Meaning, I wouldn't go out of my way to boil potatoes to then bake them. On the other hand, if I have leftover potatoes, I wouldn't hesitate to make them again. It's pretty much a batch of potato skins with extra potato since you're not hollowing them out.

You can certainly top them with anything you like. Maybe a buffalo chicken version, a taco version, etc. I like to keep a bag or two of pepperoni in the refrigerator. Aside from coming in handy for salads, pizza, cheese and crackers, etc., it also crisps up very nicely in the microwave to be used like bacon bits. So I used crispy pepperoni and green onions on mine, of course with melted cheese.

INGREDIENTS :

Small potatoes

Olive oil or cooking spray

Salt and pepper

Shredded cheese blend (I used a Mexican blend)

Thin sliced pepperoni (12-15)

3 green onions

1. Boil the potatoes until fork tender
2. Preheat oven to 375-400
3. Drain potatoes and transfer to baking sheet, pressing down on them with the back of a spoon or a potato masher to "smash" 
4. Brush lightly with olive oil - or spray with PAM
5. Season generously with Salt and Pepper
6. Bake until exposed edges are browned to desired color/crispness
7. While potatoes are baking, line plate with a paper towel, a single layer of pepperoni, and another layer of paper towel to prevent spatters and soak up the grease - microwave 30-60 seconds until crisp, then break into pieces
8. Top with shredded cheese, chopped green onions, and pepperoni crumbles
9. Return to oven until cheese is melted