Glazed Sweet Potato with aromatic lime and cardamom Tomato sauce

I was so happy when my postie delivered my much awaited copy of  Yotam Ottolenghi's new cookbook "Flavour" .  The pages are bursting with tempting recipes that champion vegetables in all their glory.  Sweet potato often provides the base of many of my vegetarian go-to recipes and this one is definitely being added to my ‘favourites”.  The highest praise was collecting the ‘licked clean” plates at the end of dinnertime.  All the family commented on the aroma and intensity of flavours.  The fresh lime is essential to the final flavour – I freeze organic limes whole when lovely friends give them to me.  I just allow them to defrost, zest and juice.  Wonderful for recipes like this.   Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as Wilbur did!     

Enjoy!    Colleen

          

Preparation    15 minutes

Cooking           40 minutes baking Sweet potatoes, 
                          Sauce – 30 minutes but,  20 min while sweet potato bakes then final 10 mins 
Serves              4 – 6 depending on sides.
Ingredients
1 –1  ½  kg sweet potato.  Scrub if young veg  OR peel if tougher older veg. Cut into thick rounds, approx. 2 1/2cm / 1 inch thick
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon Maple Syrup
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon Salt
Few grinds of Black pepper
Sauce
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
3 – 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 green chillies –finely chopped (deseed for less heat)  I used heaped tablespoon of my Tomato Chilli Relish (on blog)  and added ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 brown onion – grated
400 gram tin Diced Tomatoes (Italian are more intense) 
1 heaped tablespoon Tomato paste
1 ½  teaspoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (250ml) water
2 limes.  You need the zest and also some juice, plus few wedges to serve.
2 teaspoons Dill, finely chopped.   OR  mix of mint, parsley and/or chives.
 
Method
Preheat oven to 240 ˚C and prepare 2 oven trays with alfoil and baking paper
In a large bowl, mix together the olive oil, maple syrup, cardamom, cumin, salt and pepper.
Add the sweet potato rounds and massage with the oil mixture to cover all the rounds.
Tip the sweet potato onto the oven trays and cover tightly with foil.
Bake for 25 minutes covered,  then remove foil cover and cook for a further 10 minutes.
The rounds need to be cooked through and the base of the rounds browned and sticky.
Set aside.
 
Whilst the sweet potato is baking, make the sauce:
Use a large sauté pan that has a lid  - think of size needed for when you later add the sweet potato-   gently fry the oil, garlic, chilli, and 1/8 teaspoon salt for 8 – 10 minutes.  Stir regularly but don’t let the garlic brown.
Add the onion and fry until soft.  5-10 minutes.
Pour in the tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, cardamom, cumin, lime zest, 1 teaspoon salt and cook for a 5 minutes, stirring regularly.  Add 1 cup water and gently simmer for further 5 minutes.
 
Place the cooked sweet potato rounds – browned side up - into the tomato sauce in the pan.
Push, pile up extras if they don’t all fit perfectly. 
Reduce heat to low, cover with lid and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
If it looks too watery, remove lid for final 5 minutes.
 
Serve scattered with the herbs and lime wedges on the side.
 
I served it with my Spinach and fresh tomato Rice.  (recipe will be on the blog next time)
 
Yum!    Enjoy!  Colleen