Baked Potato with Cheese Sauce and Baked Beans (English Jacket Potato)

This British gastro-pub favourite is an easy one-dish main that uses handy pantry staples to delicious effect. Brimming with baked beans and a quick homemade sharp cheddar sauce, this comforting and filling "meal in a jacket" is as delicious as it is nutritious.

2 larger russet potatoes, scrubbed
drizzle extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt
½ (14 oz) can baked beans in tomato sauce, such as; Heinz

Cheese Sauce:
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. all-purpose flour, unbleached
¾ cup milk, hot
1 tsp. Coleman's prepared mustard
dash Worcestershire sauce
few shakes cayenne pepper
½ cup (2 oz) sharp old cheddar cheese, freshly grated
kosher salt
black pepper, freshly cracked

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6).

Poke potatoes several times with a fork, rub with a drop of olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Put directly on the oven rack and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until soft.

While potatoes bake, make cheese sauce: melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook until bubbly, then pour in hot milk (microwaved in a mug for 1 minute). Whisk in mustard, Worcestershire sauce and cayenne, and let the sauce boil for a couple of minutes, until it thickens. Keep stirring. Add cheese, and salt and pepper, lower heat to simmer, and cook for 1 minute, until sauce is smooth. Remove from heat, cover and set aside.

Heat beans in microwave or small pot until hot. Slice off tops of potatoes lengthwise, break up the insides with a fork, pour half the cheese sauce over each and top each with warm baked beans.

Makes 2 servings.