Our favorite girl, Carley Smith, aka the Fairy Gutmother, has a mouthwatering potato recipe for us. It’s her version of a loaded baked potato: loaded smashies! We’re absolutely in love with this new spin on a classic. The other added benefit of this recipe is all the leftovers you’ll have to make meals over the next couple of days. Efficient AND delicious.

“What if I told you these little pieces of heaven were good for your gut health?? It's true! Potatoes, if cooked properly, are full of resistant starches, a prebiotic source, which helps increase short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels in the gut. This is important because low levels of SCFA have been linked to dysfunction of the gut and numerous colonic disorders like IBS and colon cancer. Resistant starches are just that, resistant, to digestion, meaning they are not broken down in the small intestine, rather, they are fermented in the colon by the microbiome, producing what is also referred to as prebiotic fiber, or essentially what the bacteria and fungi need in order to thrive. Resistant starch is created by first boiling the potatoes then immediately cooling, a process called retrogradation, allowing the starch to be less digestible.” ~ Carley Smith, aka Fairy Gutmother

Fairy Gutmother’s Loaded Smashies

Servings: 4 Active Time: 15-20 Minutes Total Time: 4.5 Hours

INGREDIENTS - oven roasted pork shoulder

pork shoulder
2-3 carrots
2-3 celery stalks
1 yellow onion
1 apple
2 cups bone broth
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tbs all purpose seasoning (onion, paprika, garlic)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbs ghee
4-6 sprigs of thyme
BBQ sauce of choice

INGREDIENTS - smashies

2-3 lbs fingerling potatoes or creamer potatoes (we used some organic red creamer potatoes here but usually prefer fingerlings)
4-6 tbs high heat oil (we used our favorite Colorado Mills Sunflower Oil)
2-4 tbs Himalayan sea salt
4 tbs fresh rosemary, chopped
optional: freshly grated parmesan cheese

INSTRUCTIONS - oven-roasted pork shoulder

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Slice pork shoulder into large pieces that make it easier to sear and cook. Season pork shoulder pieces with the all-purpose seasoning, salt and pepper. Rub all around, on all sides.

Melt 2 tbs of ghee in the bottom of a dutch oven on high heat. Add the pork shoulder, a couple pieces at a time, to make sure there’s enough room for each piece to sear on its side. You don’t want the pork to crowd each other out. Sear for a couple minutes per side. Once the meat starts to pull away from the bottom of the pan is when you generally want to start to flip. Searing the meat first like this helps to add much more flavor.

Turn the dutch oven heat down to low. Add 2 cups of chicken bone broth to the dutch oven. Add your chopped veggies: celery, carrots, onion, apple.. Add back in the pork. Add any remaining veggies, tucking them between the pieces of meat. Then add the cloves of garlic on top. Add more water or bone broth to make sure the liquid is halfway full in your dutch oven. Add a few sprigs of thyme on top of everything. Now bring the dutch oven to a boil.

Once the pot comes to a boil, remove from the stovetop and place into the oven for 2-4 hours, the longer the better, and depending on the size of the pork.

INSTRUCTIONS - oven-roasted smashed potatoes

*tip ~ start 30 minutes before you’re ready to pull the pork shoulder out of the oven

Preheat oven to 350°F as soon as you pull your pork shoulder out of the oven.

Add potatoes to pot of boiling water. Boil for 15-20 minutes, until soft. Immediately cool boiled potatoes in a strainer set in an ice bath (bowl of cold water and ice cubes) or for a quicker technique, add ice cubes to the potatoes in whatever you’re allowing them to cool. Just as long as you get these potatoes chilled immediately. This step is crucial for maximizing the health benefits of potatoes for their resistant starch content (what the beneficial bacteria need to feed on to thrive in the gut). Let potatoes cool for about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, add your oil, sea salt and rosemary to the potatoes. Mix until well combined. Transfer coated potatoes to a baking sheet, AND now the fun part begins! Using your palm or a fork, smash each potato gently. Lightly is the key word here. Evenly space these smashies out on your baking sheet. Coat with any remaining oil, herbs or seasoning. At this point, you can also add freshly grated parmesan cheese for even more delicious flavor. Bake for 15-20 minutes, longer for crispier. You want them golden brown and crispy when you finally pull them out of the oven.

INSTRUCTIONS - loaded smashies

At this point you have crispy, golden smashies, golden brown meat that is falling off the bone and carmelized veggies. It’s hard to resist eating everything in site at this point. Begin pulling apart the meat with two forks to begin making that shredded pork. This is such a great meal prep option because you can use this shredded pork for pork tacos, throw into a soup with some of your veggies from the dutch oven or just serve along sides as a main dish. Super versatile.

Now set 4-6 smashies on a plate. Top them with your shredded pork. Drizzle with a little bbq sauce, and serve ~

~ recipe adapted from the Fairy Gutmother’s Oven-Roasted Pork Shoulder YouTube cooking demo and her oven-roasted smashed potatoes recipe