Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes With Sage And Pecans Recipes

TWICE-BAKED SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake sweet potatoes in the preheated oven until tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle.
• Cut a thin lengthwise slice from the top of each sweet potato and discard slice. Scoop pulp from sweet potatoes, leaving thin shells. Place pulp into a bowl and mash with cream cheese. Stir brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon into mixture and fill sweet potato shells with pulp. Place filled sweet potatoes onto a baking sheet.
• Bake until sweet potatoes are heated through, 15 to 20 minutes.

TWICE BAKED SWEET POTATOES WITH SAGE AND PECANS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Use a fork to prick holes in sweet potatoes; place them on a baking sheet. Place in oven; bake until fork-tender, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool slightly. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Cut sweet potatoes in half. Remove skin from one half, and discard. Place potato flesh in a medium bowl. Use a spoon or melon baller to scoop out inside of the other half, leaving skin intact, and add flesh to bowl.
• Meanwhile, heat a medium saute pan coated with olive-oil cooking spray over medium heat. Add shallots, and saute until translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon sage, and saute until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and place in the bowl of a food processor. Add cottage cheese, salt, and pepper, and puree until smooth. Add to sweet potato, and mash with a hand masher until smooth. Spoon mixture back into skins; sprinkle with chopped pecans and remaining teaspoon sage. Place in an 11-by-16-inch baking pan. Return to oven; bake until hot and pecans are toasted, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven; serve.

TWICE BAKED SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
• Scrub the sweet potatoes, then pierce all over with the tines of a fork. Place the potatoes on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until fork-tender, about 50 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes, depending upon the size of your potatoes. Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and let cool slightly.
• While the potatoes bake, cut the cream cheese and butter into a small dice. Let come to room temperature while the potatoes bake (you can also melt the butter if you prefer).
• Once they are cool enough to handle, carefully cut off the top third of the 4 largest sweet potatoes lengthwise so that you have an open sweet potato boat (reserve the 5th, smallest sweet potato). With a spoon, scoop out the potato flesh from the base and transfer it to a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Leave a thin inner layer of sweet potato flesh lining the inside of the base so that it holds its shape. Scrape the flesh away from the cut tops and discard the peels or save for compost. Return the bases to the same baking sheet.
• Split the final, smallest sweet potato in half and scoop all of the flesh into the food processor. Discard the peel or use it for compost (the extra sweet potato flesh will allow you to impressively fill up the bases).
• To the food processor, add the Greek yogurt, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, cream cheese, and butter. Process until the ingredients are very well blended and the puree is ultra smooth and light, stopping to scrape down the bowl as needed. Taste and adjust the seasoning as desired. (I add a pinch more salt; if you'd like more of a kick, add a bit more cayenne.)
• Generously mound the sweet potato bases with the filling, piling it high (we are going for presentation here!), then sprinkle the pecans evenly over the top.
• Return the sweet potatoes to the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the pecans are crisp and the filling is heated through. Enjoy warm.

TWICE-BAKED SWEET POTATOES

Steps:

• Roast sweet potatoes: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Use a fork to prick the skin of each sweet potato several times. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast until tender, 50-60 minutes. (Note: Sweet potatoes can be roasted up to 2 days in advance. Once cooked, cool completely, then place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.)
• Bacon-Pecan Streusel: While the sweet potatoes are roasting, make the streusel. In a bowl, add flour and brown sugar and stir to combine. Add the diced butter; use your fingers or a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture develops pea-sized crumbles. Stir in the pecans and bacon. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. (Note: Bacon-Pecan Streusel can be made up to 2 days in advance. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)
• Filling: When the sweet potatoes are tender, remove from oven (leaving the oven on) and allow them to cool, about 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, cut each in half lengthwise and carefully spoon out the flesh, leaving the skins intact. Place potato skins back onto the rimmed baking sheet and set aside. (Note: If you cut into the sweet potatoes and find they're not completely cooked, place them in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.)
• In a food processor, combine sweet potato flesh, cream, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Pulse to combine, starting on low; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed and pulse again at medium, adding more cream (or water) if the mixture is too thick. When the mixture is creamy and smooth, taste, adjust seasoning, and transfer to a bowl.
• Spoon the sweet potato mixture into the hollowed-out skins, just to the top of the shell. Once all the shells have been filled, distribute remaining mixture evenly among the shells. (Note: This can be done up to one day ahead. Cover and store in the refrigerator; bring to room temperature before proceeding.) Sprinkle the streusel evenly on top of each filled shell. Return to the oven and bake, 10 minutes or until the streusel is toasted and lightly browned.
• Remove potatoes from the oven and turn on the broiler; set the rack to 6 inches beneath the heat source. Sprinkle mini marshmallows evenly on top of the potatoes. Just before you are ready to serve them, place the potatoes under the broiler. Broil, keeping a watchful eye to prevent burning, until the marshmallows are brown and toasty, 15-30 seconds. Serve immediately.