Sweet Potato Pizza
Our publisher at HarperCollins once said that people want to braise in the summer and grill in the winter. They yearn for what's not in season.
For my part, I get impatient with the stand-bys at the holidays--and then want them at other times of the year. A roast turkey mostly gets a "meh" from me on the holidays. I mean, I like it. It's fine. But I'm much more excited when Bruce makes cowboy rib-eyes or some succulent racks of lamb.
But that said, I love roast turkey on an average Wednesday night in January--or June. When it's not so expected.
This past week, I asked Bruce if he could revamp the standard sweet potato casserole, found on so many holiday tables. We've got lots of company over the holidays--kids, too--and I was wondering if we couldn't play around with what's expected. What if we still had a sweet potato dish, one that's kid-friendly, but we morphed it a bit?
His answer: sweet potato pizza.
He made it with a plain, 12-inch, prebaked, store-bought crust. We live near Berkshire Mountain Bakery in New England; they specialize in prebaked, sourdough crusts. Pretty tasty. (You can find them here--they'll ship their regular or spelt crusts to you.) But any of the standard prebaked crusts from the supermarket will work.
First, crank the oven to 375F (190 C). Put two medium sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, pop them in the oven ("pop"--ooo, look at me, doing a Sandra Lee impersonation), and roast until soft, about 1 1/4 hours.
Meanwhile, melt a tablespoon or so (30 grams or so) of unsalted butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add a large, chopped onion (fairly big pieces here for texture) and cook, stirring often, until quite soft and golden, at least 15 minutes, maybe up to 25. Stir in a pinch of salt and set aside.
Once the sweet potatoes are soft, set their baking sheet on a wire rack, cool somewhat, and then cut them in half lengthwise. Scrape the flesh into a bowl. Mash it with a fork or (as Bruce here) a potato masher until creamy and smooth.
Increase the oven's temperature to 450 F (230 C). Lay that prebaked crust on a baking sheet. Smear the sweet potato puree all over the crust, leaving about a 1/2-inch (1 cm) border at the perimeter. Sprinkle the onions evenly over the pie, then dot them pie with 3 ounces (85 grams) soft goat cheese. Grind black pepper all over the thing and shove it in the oven.
In about 12 minutes, once the crust is a little brown at the edges and the cheese has started to melt, you've got a new take on a classic, one I'll bet the kids will love. Better yet, it's a great lunch any day of the week. And did I mention, real food, too? You can now save that sweet potato casserole for an off weekday in January. Or not.
Mark Scarbrough | Posted on Monday, December 6, 2010 at 10:23AM | in Comfort Food, Pizza, Vegetarian
Reader Comments (7)
Yum!! That looks delicious! I love sweet potato and goat cheese, such a great combination, we often have it in salads as well...
Love this combination! I've been playing around with pumpkin pizza lately and am loving it! Sweet potato is another great variation too. I'm thinking perhaps a sprinkle of curry powder yet would just top this off ....
love,
cathy b. @ brightbakes
Sure, put a little curry powder in with the onions, at the end of their cooking. I also like the idea of mashing some minced sage into the sweet potato puree.
M.
(Celia, we were separated at birth.)
That's why everyone wants to live in the Bay Area -- because you can braise in the summer AND grill in the winter. LOL
Carolyn: Don't rub it in. And you still haven't found me that three-bedroom/two-bath in Pacific Heights for 300K. Oh, Nob Hill would do, too.
M.
What a great idea! I never would have thought sweet potato & pizza. I have had some sweet potato quesadillas with chevre cheese & it was divine.
Ali: You got it! Those sweet potato quesadillas sound divine. And in the same spirit as this pizza!
M.