These potatoes are made in a two-step process. First, you have to partially cook the sweet potatoes. Obviously, you couldn’t smash them in their raw state unless you used a sledge hammer! So you will be either boiling or roasting them before the actual fun of smashing them begins.

After they have cooked and are cool enough to handle, then you very gently flatten them out with a fork. Because they are so soft, you have to be careful not to get overly enthusiastic with this step. You will need to reshape them into rounds after they have been smashed.

 

INGREDIENTS

4 medium sweet potatoes or 3 large sweet potatoes (Look for long sweet potatoes that are fairly wide in diameter. I found the fatter, the better, yielding larger smashed sweet potato pieces)

A light spray of olive oil

3 tablespoons melted butter

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste

2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-heat your oven to broil (or grill) settings to high heat. Trim off the ends of the sweet potatoes. Cut each sweet potato into quarters (or 1 1/2 – inch pieces).

Boil Method:

Place sweet potatoes in a large pot of salted water. Bring to the boil; cook, covered for 20 -25 minutes or until just fork-tender. Drain well.

Roast Method:

Bake sweet potato pieces for 25-30 minutes, or until they are fork tender. Allow to cool for about 5 minted, or until you can handle them without burning your hands.

Smash:

Lightly grease a large baking sheet or tray with cooking oil spray. Arrange sweet potatoes onto the sheet and use a fork to LIGHTLY flatten each piece (they will be soft, so try not to press too hard or they will end up breaking and mashed).

Mix together the butter, garlic and parsley. Pour the mixture over each sweet potato. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and lightly spray with olive oil spray.

Broil (or grill) until they are golden and crispy (about 15 minutes). Remove from oven, sprinkle over the parmesan cheese and return to the oven until the cheese is melted.

To Serve:

Season with a little extra salt and parsley, and serve immediately.

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Quick Tip:  You can boil or roast your sweet potato pieces the day before you plan to serve them, and then smash and bake them the next day.

Recipe courtesy of Karina at Cafe Delites, image courtesy of fortheloveofcooking.net