It’s not just the Portuguese who favor the potato, onion, nd cheese combo, though I’m intrigued they’re interested in the stinky cheese spectrum. I wasn’t able to locate the queijo da Serra, or any Portuguese cheeses, unfortunately, and I wanted to go with the stinky idea, so I passed on the idea of Gruyere and went with the idea of a washed rind. I found a lovely seasonal from Belgium, Spring Chimay. It was nice and pungent and there was an aroma surrounding me on the train home and in the fridge where I kept the cheese overnight.
To cut to the chase, and then I’ll backtrack with some details, I could be the voice of this recipe: “I sometimes eat a whole bowl of this…,” and my fellow taster felt the same. However, the cheese virtually disappeared. When I placed it on the potatoes, it looked like a lot. When I took the potatoes out of the oven, with the cheese melted, it did not look like enough. We agreed that it could definitely use MORE cheese! And that double the cheese might not be too much! These could be eaten by the bowlful or divided but certainly not more than four servings.
With a salad, it could be a vegetarian lunch entrée. Even served alone, a green garnish would be visually appealing. We took out a variety of microgreens, which added a little sweetness, a little spiciness, and a little crunch.
A definite yes to the cracked black pepper atop, while still hot: cracked, and not too fine.
The melty cheese will never be better than right as it is pulled from the oven. Serve right away. We barely got the potatoes moved to plates before we were splitting the (four?!) servings two ways!