Twice Baked Harissa Sweet Potatoes

Twice Baked Harissa Sweet Potatoes- The perfect fall side dish and possible addition to your Thanksgiving.

There are dishes I think about that I like when other people make them…but I could do without making them myself. They tend to be cumbersome, a little fussy and for some reason they don’t taste as good as when Grandma makes them. Twice baked potatoes and deviled eggs typically fall into that category for me. But for some reason, by tweaking the idea of a twice baked standard potato and making it into a harissa spiced sweet potato that’s twice baked…it actually works better since it’s easier with bigger flavor impact. I’d be happy to make these again and they’re such a flavor show stopper you’ll want to make them for every fall dinner this year.

From a nutrition point of view, these are also way better for you than your standard twice baked potato- and I mean that beyond the whole antioxidant sweet potato vs standard potato line. With a standard potato, people tend to rely on sour cream, a ton of butter and cheese to flavor the potato. With a sweet potato, it’s already packed with flavor (they truly are sweet) and they’re very moist (sorry). To balance out the natural sweetness I paired it with harissa and a little salt and pepper and whipped it with a whisk attachment on a stand mixer.

Now to be honest, per usual, visuals are important here. Part of the goodness of a twice baked potato is the ridges on top that get slightly browned. For a sweet potato, I put it through a piping bag with a star tip to create roses. Do it. It adds a little something extra and it’s fun to eat.

Twice Baked Harissa Sweet Potatoes

INGREDIENTS

3 large sweet potatoes

1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 Tablespoon high quality butter (eg Kerrygold), melted

2 teaspoons harissa  (depends on spice level- I use NY Shuk herby harissa spice)

Salt and pepper to taste

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash potatoes and prick with a fork. Place on a rack in the oven at 375 for about 45 minutes or until you are able to pierce with a fork. 

2. Remove from the oven and allow the potatoes to cool slightly before cutting off the top third of the potatoes lengthwise.

3. Scoop out the flesh using a large spoon (leave enough on the base so the skin holds its shape) and reserve bases. 

4. In a stand mixer with whisk attachment add scooped out flesh of sweet potato, brown sugar, harissa, salt and pepper. Whip until fluffy.

5. Add to piping bag with desired star tip and pipe into base. (Alternative: Use a fork to create ‘peaks’ once in the skin for a similar effect)

6. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and brush skins with olive oil.

7. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. Broil on high to brown if desired.

8. Top with additional salt and harissa.

Note: To keep your sodium levels in check and make this extra delicious, swap your salt for a blend of 50% MSG, 50% salt which can reduce your sodium content by about 40%!