Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Most of my recipe shares on The Buckeye Five are for desserts, main dishes and more desserts.  I don't hear anyone complaining, but I do feel a certain sense of responsibility to offer up the occasional side dish.

We've all had twice-baked potatoes before.  You know the ones I'm talking about.  The center of a baked spud scooped out and mashed together with a wonderfully, sinfully combination of sour cream and butter and cheese and bacon. 

Heart attack alert!

How come I'd never considered a similar process with a sweet potato?!

We love sweet potatoes around our house and I usually just bake them up and mash 'em with a little butter and cinnamon.  Great, easy side dish that my kiddos have always loved.

Here's a simple Twice Baked Potato recipe to try sometime if you're having company over.  They are super easy to do up ahead of time and then pop in the oven before your main course and other dishes are ready to serve.

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

Here's What You Need:

5 medium sized sweet potatoes

2 Tablespoons butter

4 ounces goat cheese

salt and pepper

3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

2 Tablespoons butter

Here's What You Do:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Prick the potatoes with a fork, all over.  Place the potatoes on a large piece of foil and fold the foil around the potatoes to form a packet.  Place the packet on a baking sheet.  Bake until tender, about 1 hour.

When they are tender enough to pierce with a fork, remove the potatoes from the oven and open up the packet so they can cool.  Once they are cool enough to handle.  Slice each potatoes in half, lengthwise.  Scoop out all potato but 1/4 inch around the inside skins.  Set 8 skins aside in a baking dish and place the potato "pulp" in a food processor.  Add 2 Tablespoons butter and the goat cheese.  Season with salt and pepper.  Process until smooth, 2 minutes.  Add the chives and pulse to combine.  Spoon the mixture into the skins.

In a small bowl, stir together the pecans, panko and 2 Tablespoons butter until combined.  Season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle mixture over the sweet potatoes and bake until golden, 10-12 minutes.

This recipe was found in Everyday Food which is published my Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.