Loaded Sweet Potato Skins

 I love sweet potatoes! I think they are such a versatile veg, you can do so much to them. I have two particular favourites however, one of them is sweet potato mash and the other is loaded sweet potato skins. I am actually going to give you both recipe here today because they both start the same and the skins just take it that step further. Before we get into the lovely world of baking a sweet tattie though let's just have a look at the actual root veg itself. This sweet little root contains 283% of your daily Vitamin A allowance in only 100gm, it also has Vitamin B6, Magnesium, a little bit of Iron and some Vitamin C, dietary fiber and some sugar - it is called a sweet potato after all.  

 

Ingredients for the Mash - serves 2 2 medium sweet potatoes 2 tablespoons of full fat cream cheese Salt to taste Black pepper to taste

Ingredients for the loaded skins This serves 4 people is served with salad or as part of a meal or 2 hungry people 2 medium sweet potatoes 2 tablespoons of full fat cream cheese 250gm beef / soya mince 200gm chorizo 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 medium red onion 2 large cloves of garlic 1 tsp olive oil Salt to taste Black pepper to taste 100-150 Grated manchego or parmigiano cheese - depends on how cheesy you want it!

Method:

1. Turn your oven to 200c’ fan and 210C’ non fan. Take a baking tray and line it with foil
2. Gently oil the sweet potatoes or alternatively you can use a tiny bit of melted butter and season them with salt. This makes the skin crispy. Bake until a knife goes through them easily. That is usually about 40 minutes for me.
3. Take the cook potatoes out of the oven and split in two, scoop out the lovely orange flesh in a bowl, add the cream cheese salt and pepper and mash with a form. At this stage you have your sweet potato mash. You may need to warm it through in a pot, just please don’t microwave it! It’s blasphemy, serve it properly!  
4. If you are making the loaded skins you can put the mash to one side, put the skins back on the tray. And give them 5 minutes in the over on their own if they want them even crispier. Be careful they burn fast. Also be sure to have shaped them into nice little boats before you crisp them up.
5. In a pan soften your onions in a teaspoon of olive oil, add the chorizo and crisp it up.
6. Add the mince, make sure it is in nice little chunks, there is nothing worse that giant lumps of mince. Add the garlic and smoked paprika. Season to taste with salt and pepper. And saute until the mince is cooked through. Drain any excess fat that you do not want.
7. Dish out the mash in equal amounts back into the skins. Top with the cooked mince and chorizo mix, top with the grated cheese and put under the grill for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden.
8. Service with a nice green salad!

Bon Appetit!