Tag: Sweet potatoes

Sweet potato pancakes

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

If you happen to have a leftover roast sweet potato, this is exactly the way to use it up. Just the thing for Sunday brunch, served with lashings of bacon AND maple syrup. Feeds 2 hungry people

  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 1 sweet potato, roasted whole then peeled and mashed
  • 150ml milk
  • 50g plain yoghurt
  • 20g butter, melted
  • 200g flour
  • 3 tbsp fine polenta
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • Veg oil
  1. In a medium bowl with clean whisk, whisk egg whites to soft peaks
  2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sweet potato, egg yolks, milk, yoghurt and melted butter
  3. In another separate bowl (or just on the scales), mix together flour, polenta, salt, baking powder and sugar
  4. Tip the flour mixture into the sweet potato mixture and stir until smooth
  5. Then fold the egg whites gently into the pale orange batter
  6. Heat veg oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, then add small ladlefuls of batter into the hot oil
  7. Fry on both sides until golden brown and restrain yourself from eating them before they get to the table

If easier (or you just like your pancakes square) you can also cook this in a lined baking tin at 180C fan for 18 mins

Potato and sweet potato dauphinoise

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Savoury, creamy, mellow and marvellously adaptable. Make the same recipe with swede, parsnip, celeriac or a combination of all of them. (But maybe not beetroot on account of it ending up looking a bit like a crime scene.)

  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 onion, finely sliced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 150ml single cream
  • 150ml double cream
  • 150ml milk
  • Salt and pepper
  • 500g floury potatoes, peeled and finely sliced
  • 500g sweet potatoes, peeled and finely sliced
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C fan (170C)
  2. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat
  3. Stir in the onion, garlic and thyme and cook for 7 or 8 mins until soft and golden
  4. Pour in the cream and milk and bring gently to a simmer. Season well
  5. Tip the sliced potatoes into the pan and simmer for 5 mins then add the sweet potatoes
  6. Stir everything together then tip into a 1.5l baking dish
  7. Bake for 1 hour until the top is golden and the vegetables tender. Allow to stand for 5 mins before serving, just so it’s not quite as volcanically hot and it holds together a little better.

Sweet potato and feta fritters

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Tasty golden morsels.

  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 2 heaped tbsp plain flour (or gluten free flour)
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and grated
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 2 spring onions, finely chopped
  • Handful of fresh herbs, chopped (I like parsley and mint, but you could choose dill, coriander, whatever you like)
  • 150g feta, crumbled
  • Salt and pepper
  • Veg oil
  1. Put the egg, milk and flour in a bowl and mix together until smooth
  2. Gently mix in the sweet potato, spring onion, chilli and herbs, then stir in the feta ensuring you leave some slightly bigger pieces
  3. Heat enough veg oil in a large frying pan to coat the bottom of the pan
  4. Fry small spoonfuls of the sweet potato mixture over a medium heat until golden on one side, then flip and cook on the other side

Serve piping hot from the pan.

Butternut squash and sweet potato soup

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Soup-erb. Fragrant, warm and deeply comforting. Feeds 4.

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, sliced
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 small butternut, peeled, deseeded and diced
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • ¾ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 chicken stock cube
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium heat
  2. Cook the onion and garlic for 5 or 6 mins until soft
  3. Add the diced butternut squash and sweet potato and stir together
  4. Cook for a couple of mins then add the spices, seasoning and the stock cube
  5. Stir together, before pouring over around a pint of boiling water to just cover the contents of the pan
  6. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 15-20 mins until the squash and sweet potato is soft when you poke it
  7. Use a wand blender to whizz the soup until smooth, then check the seasoning and serve. Maybe with a little dollop of plain yoghurt or creme fraiche in the middle and some crusty bread on the side.

Baked feta and sweet potato

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A marvel of sweet and salty flavours. An excellent weeknight dinner. Trust me on baking the feta, it’s a game-changer. Feeds 2.

  • 2 orange-flesh sweet potatoes
  • ½ tsp veg oil
  • 200g block feta, drained and patted dry with paper towel
  • 1 red chilli, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 sprig fresh thyme
  • Zest of ½ lemon
  • Black pepper
  • Handful pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 170C fan (190C)
  2. Scrub the sweet potatoes but don’t prick them or cut any bits off them because the juice will leak from the inside and weld itself to the bottom of your oven
  3. Use a little bit of oil on your hands to rub over the outsides of the potatoes and put them into the oven, directly on the oven shelf
  4. Bake for around 30 mins. Whilst they’re cooking, pop the feta in a little oven dish or make a foil packet on a baking tray. Sprinkle with the chilli, olive oil, thyme leaves, lemon zest and black pepper. Put the lid on or seal with foil
  5. Once the sweet potatoes have had 30 mins, place the feta in the oven and bake for a further 15 mins
  6. Check the sweet potatoes are done, then split them open and top with the soft, creamy, salty-but-mellow feta and a sprinkle of toasted pecans

Sweet potato, red onion, lentil and halloumi salad

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

A delicious combination of textures, colours and flavours. Eat it on its own or as part of a spread to delight friends and family.

  • 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunky pieces
  • 1 red onion, cut into 8 wedges
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • Pinch chilli flakes
  • Salt and pepper
  • 225g block halloumi, cut into pieces about the same size as the sweet potato
  • 250g cooked green lentils
  • Handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C)
  2. Mix the olice oil with all the spices
  3. Dump the sweet potato and red onion into a roasting tin, pour the spiced oil over the top and season well. Mix with your hands until it’s all thoroughly coated
  4. Roast for around 25 mins, then add the lentils and halloumi and give it a gentle mix around
  5. Return to the oven for a further 15 mins until the sweet potato is soft and caught around the edges, the halloumi is soft, the lentils have absorbed all the delicious juice and everything is good
  6. Remove from the oven and stir through the lemon juice and a bit more olive oil
  7. Arrange on a platter, sprinkle with parsley and eat!

Sweet potato falafels

~ Sophie ~ Leave a comment

Not real falafels, but falafel-shaped, nutty, gently spiced and very tasty. Perfect stuffed into a toasted pitta with a bit of lettuce, some smoked hummous and a couple of green olives

  • 2 large sweet potatoes
  • 2 handfuls fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • 1 large carrot, grated
  • 3 spring onions, finely chopped
  • 125g gram flour
  • 100g shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • Salt and pepper
  1. Prick the sweet potatoes and heat in the microwave for 5-10 mins until soft
  2. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl
  3. Scoop the sweet potato flesh out of its skin and mix in thoroughly
  4. Scrunch the mixture together into a large ball with your hands, and then place in a covered bowl in the fridge for 30 mins
  5. Pre-heat oven to 180C fan (200C) and line an oven tray with baking paper
  6. Take the falafel mixture out of the fridge and, with your hands, roll pieces into golf balls then flatten slightly into falafelly shapes
  7. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 18-20 mins until crisp on the outside. Of course you could also shallow fry these if you’d prefer, or of course deep fry
  8. Serve at room temp