Baked Parmesan Garlic Tater Tots

Oh, potatoes. My love for you knows no limits. In the past two days, I have hit the potato trifecta. Fries for dinner one day, fries for lunch the next, and these tater tots for dinner following lunch. Thank goodness the tater tots were baked or I would be in real trouble. Regardless, this is what my dreams are made of, tater tots and fries. I suppose I have other grander dreams but those are long term. Like traveling the world over with my husband, owning a little log cabin in our favorite place on earth, Crested Butte, and saving the world one washed and reused plastic bag at a time.  But today I can attain the dream of baking and consuming some supremely delicious tater tots, which I did and would do again in a heartbeat.

What I love about these tater tots is how easy they are to make and how they blow frozen tater tots out of the water in terms of both texture and flavor. Parmesan and garlic are an excellent flavor combination but the sky is the limit with what you could put in these babies. I'm thinking green chili, pepper jack, and chili powder may be up next for me. Have fun with them because tater tots are nothing if not fun!

Baked Parmesan Garlic Tater Tots
Slightly adapted from Food52, serves 4

1 1/2 lbs russet or red potatoes
4 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake potatoes until fork tender, about 50 minutes. Run under cold water to cool.

Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment and grease with olive oil.

Grate potatoes on the large holes of a box grater.

Using a fork, combine potatoes with salt, garlic, and parmesan.

Using about a tablespoon of the potato mixture form into a roughly tot shaped cylinder and place on the baking sheet. Repeat until all the potato mixture has been used.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking.