I Bake For Attention: Baked and Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

I’m in love! With a tuber!

Seriously, in my eyes there’s nothing that a sweet potato can’t achieve. They make all meals better, and you can even use them in brownies – versatile is what that is.

I have eaten them baked before, with a little butter and salt, which is a perfectly delicious way to eat them. But, if you feel like going a bit decadent, a bit over the top, a bit STUFFING SPILLING OUT FROM ITS POTATO SHELL then you need to give this a go.

The filling part can be anything of your choosing. Lamb mince would be delicious. And actually, a drier Bolognese would be incredible as a filling (with mozzarella on top, BRB making this now). But I went for my recipe for Mexican-style Pytt I Panna, since it already uses sweet potato, so I knew the flavour would be right.

I am still doing this healthy eating malarkey, so you can see that I’ve served my cheesy, spicey potato with salad. Progress!

Serves 4 (I had it for dinner for two, two nights in a row. I am smart)

Ingredients

4 medium sweet potatoes, cleaned
1 tbsp oil
400g turkey mince
3 tsp paprika
2 tsp oregano
1 leek
4 garlic cloves
1 pepper
½ tsp chilli powder
Salt and pepper
75ml pasatta
150ml chicken stock
1 can of pinto beans
A good handful of cheese – I went with spicy Mexicana

Method

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Put your sweet potatoes on a baking tray and pierce a few times with a fork. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

Baked and delicious!

Meanwhile, make the mince filling. Begin with the turkey mince – heat half the oil in a large pan. Fry the turkey mince with 1 tsp paprika and oregano. Set aside when cooked, and heat up the rest of the oil.

Now, chop the leek, scallions, garlic and pepper in preparation. Add this to the pan, along with the rest of the paprika, oregano, chilli powder and seasoning. Stir well, then add in the pasatta.

Give another good mix and add the cooked turkey mince back into the pan. Then gradually add in the stock until all incorporated.

Allow to simmer away for 5 minutes, then stir in the beans/sweetcorn. Turn down to a low heat and allow to simmer until the sweet potatoes are cooked (give it at least 10 minutes on low).

Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven, and sit for a few minutes until cool enough to handle. Begin by slicing off the top, and carefully scoop out the insides. Mash them up in a bowl, and add the mince mixture. Mix until well combined, and put this all back into the sweet potato shell.