Sweet Potato "Pancake" Sandwich

 It's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I would come back something fun and new, sweet potato "pancake" sandwiches.

For this dish I sliced a sweet potato into circles and then baked them on a cookie sheet at 350F until soft and just browned.  After cooking, I wrapped them in a dry towel to keep them moist.   I sautéed a mix of sliced peppers (mild and hot) and red onions to serve as the filling.  

Once I was ready to assemble I put a thin slice of mozzarella cheese on a potato slice, followed by the pepper mix, another mozzarella slice and finally the last potato slice.  I returned the assembled sandwiches to the oven for about 5 minutes and then plated them.

For this dinner I served the sandwiches with roasted sunchoke, sauteed kale and grilled ribeye that was thin sliced.  Try it and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Puree

So I didn't have much time to play with my new toy (Vitamix) before we left town for holiday, but this was one dish that I was able to use it for.  The vitamix is a great tool for creating smooth purees that don't need to be super liquidy (you can make perfect mashed potatoes in a vitamix, for instance) and that was exactly what I was after for this dinner.

This sweet potato was really closer to mashed potatoes, from a consistency perspective, than a sauce ... which is exactly what I wanted as a base for this grilled pork and greens dish.  If you do not have a vitamix to use for this, instead of using a blender, you will want to do it the old fashioned way with a bowl, masher and spoon.

Sweet Potato Puree

2 large sweet potatoes (peeled and chopped into cubes)
1/2 cup milk
1/6 cup parmesan cheese
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage (1 tsp if using dried)
1 tbsp butter
salt and pepper to taste

Put the sweet potato cubes, milk and sage into a heavy sauce pan and add a couple of pinches of salt and pepper (based on your taste).  Put the sauce pan on lowest heat setting and cover to allow the sweet potato to cook slowly.  You will want to cook the potatoes until soft (a knife should pass into the flesh easily) about 30 - 45 minutes depending on the size of the cubes.  The milk may separate a little bit and leave white curds on the potatoes, that is ok.

Once the sweet potato is softened, transfer the potatoes to the vitamix and add the butter, parmesan and 1 tbsp of milk.  Begin mixing the mixture, adding milk by the tbsp until you get to your desired texture for the puree, plate and enjoy!