Roasted Potatoes with Bacon, Onion, and Cheese

So I have a theory about food. 

If it has potatoes, I'll probably like it. 

I mean, this is one of my favorite things I bought in London:

And if it has cheese, I'm definitely in. 

I mean, this is my football team: 

(via packertime.com. #GoPackGo!)

Add bacon and you've taken things over the top. I'm yours. Forever.

(via mashable.com)

So roasted potatoes, topped with cheese (and green onions), cooked with bacon?

 (giphy.com)

Here's the recipe (by popular demand!):

3lbs (or whatever will fit on your pan!) russet potatoes, cubed into about 1/2 inch cubes - you want them to all be about the same size

(DO NOT PEEL THEM THAT'S AWFUL)

1 red onion (you can use white or yellow if that's what you have - they really mellow out so don't worry if you're not a huge onion fan)

1 package bacon*

1 package (?) green onions (what do you call this? A bunch? I am not a trained chef, y'all.)

Shredded mozzarella cheese**

Salt

Pepper

Cavender's or some other spice mixture

Italian seasoning

Olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 425F. Try to make sure you oven rack is somewhere around the middle.

Cube your potatoes - about 1/2 inch is good, just make sure they're all the same size. Then rinse them.

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. This makes cleaning up much easier.

Put cubed, rinsed potatoes on the baking sheet.

Cut a package of bacon into smaller pieces - again, about 1/2 inch, but just make sure they're the same size. 

Put the cut up bacon on the sheet, on top of the potatoes.

Dice the onion. 

Put the diced onion on top of the bacon (which is on top of the potatoes).

Sprinkle on a little salt (bacon is salty already), lots of pepper (or not if you don't have a serious pepper problem like I do), a little Cavender's or other spice mix, and a little Italian seasoning. Really this is very to taste - you can always add more later, so don't be too worried about underseasoning.

Now, drizzle about a tablespoon of olive oil over the whole thing.

Take a spatula (plastic works better) and kind of stir everything around. It should look close to the picture above, just (obviously) not cooked (or covered in cheese/green onions).

Put it in the oven for about 20 minutes. Take out, stir everything around (add more olive oil if it's sticking badly), and put it back in for 25 minutes.

Take it out and test the potatoes - they should be fork tender. Basically a fork should slide in but it shouldn't just fall apart. This is a good time to take a bite for seasoning/to make sure the potatoes are done.

(And then take a bunch more bites until your boyfriend comes around the corner and catches you eating food out of the oven...)

Now comes the fun part. 

Grab your cheese and sprinkle it all over. It's totally up to you how much cheese you use. Don't be afraid. Go crazy!

Now put the whole thing back in the oven for 5 minutes.

Chop your green onions.

Pull it out (turn the oven off!) and sprinkle the green onions over the top.

Praise your various deities for all the ingredients. 

Then practice the sin of gluttony.

Seriously, this is amazing. I served this with some baked chicken thighs, but it's fantastic with steak, chicken, pork chops, anything - or even by itself!

To reheat (ha, if you have leftovers!) just put some on a plate, nuke it for a minute or so, put some more cheese on, blast it for another 30 seconds, and love your life. 

Enjoy!

*Please use real, pork bacon. Turkey bacon just won't crisp up, and you need that mix of fatty and crispy for this. If you MUST use turkey bacon, cut it much smaller. And, of course, you could easily make this vegetarian by taking the bacon out completely. I would maybe add some more potatoes, or even some other roasted veggies, but that's totally doable.

**I love pretty much all cheese, but I find mozzarella compliments this the best. I've seen similar recipes with gorgonzola (which is a little too tangy for me) or gruyere (okay moneybags) but, honestly, this is with a $2 bag of shredded mozz from Target. You can add whatever cheese, or no cheese, or no green onions, because that's what makes cooking so wonderful, but mozz is my choice!