My wife's words when I served this to her were "how do you keep coming up with this sh1t"? I'm gonna take it as a compliment that I'm doing something right 😉 This crispy roasted sweet potatoes dish is a great side dish for a roast dinner, as a lunch dish out on the deck or even as dinner with a little extra pancetta added to it! Read on and see the tasty accompaniments to elevate roasted sweet potatoes to the best sweet potato salad (or kumara salad if you live in NZ) you will have!
Why I Love This Sweet Potato Dish
Taste. First and foremost it's tasty. Most of the food I create/cook have big bold flavours. I don't like to do things by halves and this dish punches your taste buds in many different ways. We have texture coming through from the perfectly crispy roasted sweet potatoes, protein from the egg & pancetta, creaminess from the horseradish sour cream and perfectly cooked soft boiled egg, saltiness from the capers and herbaceous notes from the crispy sage leaves. You can literally put the potatoes in the oven and get the rest prepped/cooked as they roast!
Oven Roasted Sweet Potatoes
That's what it's all about! It wouldn't be an EPIC crispy roasted sweet potatoes dish without then now, would it? Before you start, give them a good wash and pat them dry.
Cut the wedges into equal-sized pieces so they cook evenly and rub in olive oil and plenty of salt - don't be afraid. Roast them on a lined baking tray or two. Best not to crowd the tray or else they will steam and not actually roast. Pop the oven to 200c and roast for 25-30 minutes. After 25 minutes I often crank up the heat to 240c for the final few minutes to give the edge a nice char.
It's that easy!
How Long Should I Boil The Eggs For?
For this delicious crispy potato wedge dish, you want those delightful runny yolk eggs you used to eat as a kid dunking toasted soldiers into. Or, if you were in my house it was pot luck who got the runny one and who was spreading their egg onto toast!
So, on that note 6.5 minutes is my go-to time for perfect soft boiled eggs. Wait until the water is boiling and using a slotted spoon lower the eggs gently into the saucepan and set that timer for 6.5 minutes. Anything under and the whites will be runny. If you like them hard-boiled then go for 8 minutes!
Fried Sage Leaves
So easy and honestly ridiculously tasty too. You might want to make a few extra as you will be hard pushed to not eat a few while you wait for the crispy roasted sweet potatoes.
Place enough oil to cover the bottom of your frying pan (about 4 tbsp on a 28cm pan), heat the oil until it is just shimmering and then drop the sage leaves in. They literally take 20-30 seconds to make, so keep a close eye on them. Once cooked, remove and place on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt.
These can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container!
Horseradish Sourcream Dressing
Two ingredients and it's done! I think that's what I like about this crispy roasted sweet potatoes dish. There may be a few components to it but 3 out of 5 can be made while the sweet potatoes roast in the oven and they are all super easy to make too. That means when it comes to serving/plating it's a walk in the park!
To make the horseradish dressing, simply mix together sour cream and horseradish and set aside in the fridge until ready to use. Yes, you can use fresh horseradish but honestly, the horseradish cream you buy in the supermarket works a treat and has a long fridge life too!
Dandelion Winery
One of my favourite McLaren Vale wineries, in fact, one of my favourite South Australian wineries. Headed up by winemaker and owner Elena and her husband Zar these guys know exactly what they are doing. They create some of the best wines in SA with ranging price points so something to suit everyone. Heck, sign up to their mailing list and you get a $75 voucher off your first order of $300!!
Recently, Elena and Zar have got permission to build a winery at Firehawk Farm along with a tasting room and restaurant. This will be an exciting addition to their portfolio and The Vale so stay tuned for updates on that. Maybe some of my creations will make the menu..............
Lamb Chops w/ Labneh & Harissa
Wine Pairing
This crispy roasted sweet potatoes recipe is being paired with a grape blend that you don't see all too often shiraz/riesling. Dandelion has produced a cracker in the Lion's Tooth! Shiraz offers those big punchy, bold and spice notes where the addition of riesling will soften it up and add a touch of "sweetness" and "aromatics" too. Much like the famous blend of shiraz/viognier that we love and know from the Rhone region and a certain producer here outside of Canberra, it's a wine that drinks well now but patience and/or decanting will reward you more. At $40 a bottle and 25% off if you buy a dozen it's a no-brainer to get some and store it away to impress your wine snob friends in years to come!
My humble wine review of the Dandelion 'Lions Tooth" Shiraz/Riesling is as follows..............
A wine of SERIOUS good value. Balsamic, cocoa and a little herbaceous notes on the nose. The body is full but given the 5% riesling and a little time in the decanter it's softened a touch. Blue and black fruits along with a touch of ink - don't be afraid, it works! Black pepper, vanilla, and balsamic again make up the rest of the palate.
Decant it for 30mins - 1 hour or cellar for 3-5 years and you will be HEAVILY rewarded!
Tips/Tricks & FAQ's
Working in NYC we used to serve a lot of deviled eggs so the food runner taught me the best way to peel them. Simply boil them in salted water with a wedge of lemon. Once cooked straight into ice-cold water and once cooled then peel them in the water or under running water.
2 days. Peeled or unpeeled eggs can be left in the fridge for up to 2 days. I recommend peeling them all at the same time so you can just grab one the next day as a snack.
Hard-boiled eggs can however be kept in the fridge for up to 7 days.
You sure can! In fact, the day I made this my wife came home and tucked into a bag of crisps as she was starving. When I took the leftover kumara salad from the fridge she started into it before I could heat it up and subsequently gave out to me as now she had just eaten double the carbs!!
Any other pork product will do. Bacon lardons are cheaper. Speck is a German smoked pork belly that is also delicious to use. Pastrami slices would work wonderful too. Heck, even a little pulled pork would work a treat!!
Ingredients
- 1 kg sweet potatoes (2lbs)
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- salt
Horseradish Sour cream
- 100 g sourcream (1/2 cup)
- 30 g horseradish cream (1/4 cup)
Crispy Sage
- 12 sage leaves
- 4 tbsp olive oil *see tips*
Other
- 4 eggs
- 150-200 g pancetta (5-7oz) cut into ½ cm rashers
- 2 tbsp capers
Instructions
Sweet Potatoes
- Wash the potatoes and cut them into wedges.
- Drizzle them with oil and season them with salt
- Roast for 25-30mins @ 200c in a lined baking tray
Soft Boiled Eggs
- Fill a saucepan with water, 1 tbsp of salt and a wedge of lemon *see tips*
- Fill a bowl with water and plenty ice so that it’s ice cold
- Once the water is boiling place the eggs gently into the saucepan and boil for 6 ½ minutes
- Remove eggs from water and place into the ice cold water
- Peel by cracking the shells gently all over and removing shell while eggs are in the water
- Set aside until ready to use
Horseradish Sourcream
- Mix ingredients together and set aside
Crispy Sage
- Place enough oil to fill the base of a frying pan
- Once oil is shimmering place the sage into the oil and cook for approx. 30 seconds, remove and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper and sprinkle with salt
- Try NOT to just eat them before serving 😉
Panchetta
- Slice the pancetta into lardons *see tips*
- Fry on high heat in a frying pan (no oil required) for 2-3 minutes until crisp
- Remove and drain on kitchen paper
Serving
- Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, place them on your desired serving plate/tray
- Drizzle all over with horseradish sourcream
- Cut eggs in ½’s or ¼’s and place around the sweet potatoes
- Sprinkle the pancetta & capers around the plate and sprinkle with crispy sage
- Open a Dandelion Lion’s Tooth and enjoy!
Notes
Essential Tools
- baking tray
- chef knives
- chopping board
- measuring utensils
- mixing bowl x 2
- frying pan
- saucepan
Tips/Tricks
- adding salt & lemon (you can squeeze the juice into the water) will guarantee you 99/100 eggs you make will de-shell easily
- eggs, sourcream & sage can all be made in advance – store the eggs & sour cream in the fridge and the sage in an airtight container in a dry place
- you want pancetta “lardons” so have your deli slice it ½ cm thick like thick-cut bacon and then cut them into little matchsticks
- when making the crispy sage keep an eye on it as they will burn quickly
- when roasting the sweet potatoes you can do them in wedges or cut them into smaller cubes – whatever suits. Just adjust the cooking times as appropriate
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