Roasted garlic and sweet potato purée

Lisa

This simple, mouth-watering recipe is from Sabrina Ghayour’s splendid book ‘Persiana’. You could treat this purée as a luxury side dish, or as a dip for toasted bread (from Forge Bakehouse, if you can!) along with a clean, crisp, peppery-leaf salad as counterfoil.

Ingredients

  • 6 sweet potatoes (skin on)
  • 4 fat garlic cloves, unpeeled
  • Olive oil for drizzling
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 25g butter
  • Pomegranate molasses, to serve (optional)

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas mark 4. Roast the sweet potatoes whole for 1 hour or until cooked through.
  2. Place the unpeeled garlic cloves on a double layer of kitchen foil. Drizzle with a little olive oil, then seal the foil around them. Roast for 30-35 minutes or until the cloves are soft and squishy.
  3. Once the sweet potatoes are cooked, allow them to cool slightly - just enough to allow you to handle them - and scoop out the flesh into a saucepan on a low heat.
  4. Peel the roasted garlic cloves and mash them into the sweet potatoes along with the cinnamon and some salt and pepper to taste. Cook the purée for a further 6-8 minutes, stirring to prevent the mixture from sticking.
  5. Finish with the butter, stirring well to incorporate it and make the purée smooth. Serve with a little drizzle of pomegranate molasses.