ramyaramesh3007Introducing your new favourite sweet potato recipe – crispy, tangy smashed SWEET POTATOES with creamy pesto and sundried tomato paste. THE holiday recipe of 2022.
If you’ve seen the hype over crispy smashed potatoes, I’m here to tell you that it’s worth every bit of your time making it. It’s just too!! good!!
I first saw this recipe being done by one of my favourite vegan bloggers, Radhi Devlukia and I’ve been obsessed ever since. I’ve made these with sweet potatoes instead and they taste like crispy french fries, in a ‘smashed potato’ form.
The keys to this crisp are definitely smashing them flat enough that they don’t break and baking them long enough to get that crisp. Not only that, you have to PAR BOIL them to allow them to get crispy on the outside. If you skip this step, chances are that the outside skin remains rough and you won’t get that crunchiness.Â
If you love potatoes, you also must check out my Vegan Crispy Parmesan Potatoes recipe. And since the focus of these recipes are potatoes, these recipes are entirely gluten free too!
Ingredients You Need
- Orange Sweet Potatoes – you would need medium sized sweet potatoes for this recipe.
- Olive Oil – generous amount for that crisp and crunch.
- Classic Pesto Ingredients – basil leaves, pine nuts, nutritional yeast and seasonings.
- Sundried Tomato Paste – you could either use store-bought sun dried tomatoes or puree sundried tomatoes in a jar.
- Garnish – spring onions! For those who don’t take alliums, you can substitute it with chopped cilantro instead.
How Should I Eat Them?
The crispy sweet potatoes taste great and you can just choose to munch them as a snack but to truly impress yourself and your guests, you need to add the flavourful toppings.
I’ve added creamy pesto and pureed sundried tomatoes but you can also serve them alongside some ranch dipping sauce and even top them with indian street food toppings like green chutney and tamarind chutney.
If you’re in for an Indian Twist on smashed potatoes, check out my Crispy Smashed Potato Chaat recipe.
Crispy Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Pesto
Equipment
- 1 Pot
- 1 Baking Tray
- 1 Blender
- 1 Chopping Board
Ingredients
Crispy Smashed Sweet Potatoes
- 2 medium sweet potatoes
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- salt
- black pepper
Creamy Pesto
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp pine nuts
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- black pepper
- salt
- splash of hot water
Garnish
- 4 tbsp sundried tomato paste
- spring onions
Instructions
- Peel the skins of the sweet potatoes and give it a good rinse. Cut into circles, half a cm wide.
- Boil a pot of water. Add some salt and bring to a boil. Add the sweet potatoes and par boil for 5-8 minutes. Drain and keep the water.
- Preheat the oven at 180C.
- Smash the potatoes with your palm (I found this to be the best way). Press them gently so they do not break.
- Sprinkle some oil onto a baking tray and line the tray with the potatoes.
- Brush with some more oil, and crack some black pepper and salt. Bake for about 40 minutes.
- Prepare your pesto – combine all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Once the sweet potatoes are roasted and crispy, take out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Add some sundried tomato paste on top, followed by a dollop of pesto and spring onions. Serve!
Notes
- This recipe is entirely gluten free!
- If you don’t have pine nuts, you can use toasted cashews or walnuts.Â