This is another of Ottolenghi's recipes which I tried with my friend Michael during this crazy cold weekend in the Hamptons. His wife Sarah, who usually hates sweet potatoes, got totally hooked to the amazing spice mix, as well as the yogurt dip made with lime zest and fresh ginger. I just changed the dip recipe slightly by replacing the creme fraiche with Greek yogurt, and did not use the suggested lemongrass, as I found that lime and ginger already bring a lot of flavor.
You can serve this dish as an appéritif or side. We paired it with spiced meatballs (recipe to come) and the combination was just to die for.
Ingredients:
3 medium sweet potatoes
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp salt
1 fresh red chile, seeded and finely diced
1 cup fresh cilantro, leaves picked
Dipping sauce:
1 plain Greek yogurt
Grated zest and juice of 2 limes
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 400F. Wash the sweet potatoes but dont peel them. Cut each lengthwise in half, cut again lengthwise into quarters, and once more so as to obtain 8 long wedges. Place them in a roasting pan covered with parchment paper. In a bowl, combine the olive oil, ground coriander, salt and chile, and pour on the sweet potatoes. Mix well with your hands. Put the roasting pan into the oven and roast for about 25 minutes, until tender and golden brown. Let cool down a little and serve with the fresh cilantro leaves on top.
To make the dipping sauce, whisk all the ingredients into a bowl. I strongly suggest using a microplane to grate the lime zest and fresh ginger. Otherwise, you would find yourself with unpleasant large lumps of lime or ginger. This incredible dip also goes very well with crudités, chile con carne, or simply warm bread.
