Pecan Crusted Sweet Potato with Sour Cream

Inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi.

It’s a good idea to make some extra of these so any carnivores can have a little ‘taste’..

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Pecan Crusted Sweet Potato with Sour Cream

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato
• 100 g pecans
• 2 large handfuls freshly grated parmesan cheese
• small bunch thyme
• 30 ml sour cream, 1.5 cups, to serve

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200C (400F).
• Scrub sweet potato and slice into 8 rounds, about 1cm (1/3in) thick. Discard the small ends.
• Place slices in a single layer on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle generously with olive oil.
• Finely chop the pecans leaving a few chunky bits. Combine pecans with cheese and about 1 tablespoon thyme leaves and 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil to moisten. Season.
• Divide pecan mixture between the sweet potato rounds, pressing gently but not to compact it too much. Sprinkle with remaining thyme sprigs.
• Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the crust is deeply golden and the sweet potato is tender. Check after 30 minutes and if it’s browning too quickly cover with some foil.
• Serve hot with sour cream passed separately so everyone can add their own.

Variations

budget – replace all or part of the pecans with coarse soft breadcrumbs and use a cheaper parmesan style cheese such as grana padano.

vegan / dairy-free – replace the cheese with soft breadcrumbs and be more generous with the olive oil. Serve with a tahini sauce (equal parts lemon juice, tahini and water) instead of the sour cream.

pumpkin / winter squash – replace the sweet potato with thin slices of butternut pumkin (squash)

different nuts – swap the pecans for almonds, brazil nuts or walnuts. Or choose a mixture of these.

carnivore – serve draped generously with OR serve as a side to a glazed ham.

less decadent – serve with a good quality natural yoghurt instead of the sour cream.

paleo (grain, legume & dairy-free) – use tahini lemon sauce (equal parts tahini, lemon & water) instead of sour cream. And use this brazil nut ‘parmesan‘.

Waste Avoidance Strategy

sweet potato – in a dark pantry.

pecans – keep them in the pantry.

parmesan – in the fridge wrap in baking paper and store in a sealed plastic bag or airtight container.

thyme – in the fridge wrapped in a plastic bag.

sour cream – in the fridge in the packaging it was purchased in.