Mary Berry's jacket potato recipe with four topping options is the 'ultimate comfort food'

Jacket potatoes are absolutely scrumptious, boasting a crispy skin and wonderfully fluffy interior. They achieve a fantastic crunch when baked in the oven, though there are plenty of speedier cooking methods available.

You simply cannot beat generous dollops of butter, but if you fancy something more filling,Mary Berry's recipe hits the spot perfectly. The recipe notesexplained: "Baked potatoes are surely the ultimate comfort food, great for feeding a crowd.

"Choose one or more of these lovely fillings to make a change from plain jacket potatoes. Each topping is enough for four potatoes, or eight halves."

Ingredients:

• Four large baking potatoes, washed and dried
• Two tablespoons of milk
• Knob of butter
• Olive oil, to drizzle
• Two tablespoons of chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
• Salt and pepper

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For the pesto topping:

• Three tablespoons of basil pesto
• 75g Parmesan, coarsely grated

For the bacon and mushroom topping:

• Four rashers of bacon, cut into small pieces
• 50g button mushrooms, sliced
• 75g mature cheddar, grated

For the spring onion and soured cream topping:

• One tablespoon of olive oil
• Four spring onions, chopped
• Four generous tablespoons of soured cream
• Paprika, for dusting

Pepper and goat's cheese topping:

• Two large red peppers, halved, seeds removed and roasted until soft
• One tablespoon of soft goat's cheese
• One tablespoon of chopped fresh basil leaves

Method:

Firstly, halve the potatoes and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Mix in the milk and butter, followed by the pesto or your chosen topping, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Then, refill the potato skins with the mixture. For the bacon and mushroom topping, sizzle the bacon until it's crispy, then toss in the mushrooms and fry on high heat for a few moments.

For the spring onion and soured cream topping, heat the oil on high and sauté the spring onions until they're soft. Blend this into the potato flesh along with the soured cream.

For the peppers and goat's cheese topping, slice the roasted peppers into strips and mix them into the potato flesh along with the cheese and basil.

Next, place the potatoes in a roasting tin, sprinkling over the Parmesan for the pesto topping or cheddar for the bacon and mushroom topping, or dust with paprika for the spring onion topping.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil and pop back into the oven for roughly 15 minutes, or until the topping is golden and the skins are crisp. Once done, garnish with chopped parsley and serve straight away.