From Good to Grate!

Patate Dolce Grattugiate Arrostiti con Cumino e Zenzero & Avocado e Pancetta Croccante

Sweet Potato Rosti with Ginger & Cumin, Avocado & Crispy Bacon

Sweet potatoes are versatile, delicious and simply good- I am sure we can all agree on that point. But this evening, I decided to make a good thing great, by beginning to grate! Yes, a rösti made from sweet potato, with shallot, onion, ginger and cumin, does sound pretty enticing, doesn't it?

I decided to pair the sweet and hearty potato pancake with mild avocado and savory crispy bacon- which also supplied the only fat I used to make this. With rosemary, parsley, a little lime juice and Tabasco in the mix- this also was a wonderful combination! So sorry my vegetarian friends- the bacon just had to be in this dish! It's what made it all work so well! Read on...

The first thing that I did in order to prepare this dish, was to fry my finely diced bacon until it was nice and crisp. I did this for two reasons- one, because I wanted to have delicious, crispy bacon to sprinkle over this dish at the end- but it also gave my pan a nice coating of grease that was just enough to keep the rösti from sticking and also gave it an excellent flavor.

So whilst the bacon was sizzling away, I got busy grating my medium sized, peeled sweet potato. to one potato, I added about 1" of ginger, finely chopped, 1 shallot, finely sliced, about a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary, a small handful of finely chopped parsley, salt, pepper, plenty of nutmeg and a splash of Tabasco. I stirred this all together well and got ready to rumble... because the bacon was positively jumping in the pan by now and needed to come out!

So- out came the bacon and in went a sprinkle of cumin seeds first, swiftly followed by the sweet potato on top. I pressed it down firmly and let it sit for a minute or so at a relatively high heat, then turned it down a notch and pressed the sweet potatoes down with a wooden spoon. As soon as they began to warm up and cook, the sweet potatoes began to give of quite a bit of moisture- but that was just fine- as we needed some moisture in order for the potatoes to cook! So- on went a lid and on went the cooking for 4-5 minutes on a gentle 

heat.

After that time, I took off the lid and added a light sprinkle of salt and cumin to the top as well. It was cheating a little I suppose, but rather than attempting to flip the rösti over, I popped it into the oven under the broiler for 3-4 minutes to finish off the cooking from above... why make life difficult on yourself, right?

I served it up with a freshly sliced avocado, a sprinkle of lime juice salt and pepper on that and a generous sprinkle of crispy and salty bacon on top! Delicious! A little finely chopped parsley as a finishing touch and hey presto! Quick, easy, light and delicious... yet again! I sure hope you like it!