So Hasty- So Tasty!

Torta Salata di Patate Dolce,  Pomodoro & Scamorza

Sweet Potato, Cherry Tomato & Scamorza Cheese Pie

I got home after a 12 hr workday, soaking wet from the rain and pretty cold to go with it, tired, hungry and feeling like I deserved a little treat. At the same time, I wanted that little treat to be ready fast and to not require a load or work and washing up- so that meant that I had to be inventive. Which of course was a little challenge and you all know by now, there is hardly anything that I enjoy more than that in the kitchen!

So I gad a look in my fridge, and there, wrapped in cling-film from a couple of days ago, were a half of a sweet potato and a half of an onion, waiting for their big chance to step into the limelight- and who was I to deprive them of their big chance? Or me of a tasty supper for that case!?!!

So I quickly peeled, halved again and sliced the sweet potato and popped it into my frying pan with a handful of chopped bacon to start sizzling. Whilst that was happening, I finely sliced the onion and plucked the leaves from 2 springs of rosemary and added them, along with a pinch of cumin seeds.

I let things sizzle away for a few minutes, until the onion became translucent and the potato slices changed color and became a deeper shade of orange, then deglazed the frying pan with just enough boiling water to cover everything and let this boil away for a few minutes, whilst I turned on the oven to get warm and ready...

Once the water had boiled away and everything was about 80% done, I transferred them to a plate in which they could cool off and rinsed out the pan quickly, ready to move on with the rest of the prep-work, which meant slicing up 5-6 cherry tomatoes finely and cutting some Scamorza cheese into slices and then these in turn into strips to make it easy to sprinkle evenly over the pie.

The only other thing left to do, was to cut our a circle of dough out of my puff pastry and to lay that out in the frying pan, ready for topping with all of the goodies I had prepared. First came a layer of scamorza- not too much, but just enough that when it melted, the other ingredients would stick to it and hold everything together. 

Then came the sweet potato slices, also spread evenly, the cherry tomato slices which I spaced out here and there, then the bacon and rosemary, a little more cheese, salt, a hint of nutmeg and pepper. Yes,it was that easy!

I popped the frying pan onto the stove top, where I let it get a head-start before transferring it to the oven- just 3-4 minutes were enough, until it began to change color and begin to gently puff up right there and then. And then into the oven it went, at 350° for a further 10 minutes or so, until it had puffed up nicely, the cheese had melted and the kitchen began to smell wonderful!

Through having allowed the ingredients to actually "boil" together, for 2-3 minutes earlier on, the rosemary had infused a lot of great flavor into the potatoes, whilst at the same time, become nice and moist, so that they didn't simply burn to a crisp in the oven ;-) What did happen though, was that they became nice and soft at first and then a little crispy as they toasted up towards the end... simply delicious!

I enjoyed mine piping hot, but you may even like to serve this cold forma party or as an appetizer- either way, it is a great easy and inexpensive dish that is bound to be a crowd-pleaser and to make this into even more of a cool idea... and of course it is one that I recommend you try as soon as possible! Because I want all of you to enjoy it every bit as much as I did!