Ricotta and nutmeg purple sweet potato mash on toast

Inspirations for a dish you make can come from anywhere. I often think about what I am going to cook next when I am eating (obviously..;-)), watching cooking shows and reading cookbooks or magazines. But I think the most genuine way to get inspirations is from beautiful ingredients you have in hand. I am so green with envy when I see other food bloggers who live in gorgeous countryside growing their own ingredients for their recipes. So when I got these stunning purple sweet potatoes from a friend, my mind immediately went on thinking what I could do with them. This simple mash on toast is one of a few ideas I had. I would say it is best served as breakfast with generous drizzle of maple syrup ;-), but it could be great as mid–day snack or lunch as well. This dish will still be delicious and pretty to look at with orange sweet potatoes.

• Prep time: 10-15mins
• Cooking time: 40-45mins
• Serves: 2-3

Ingredients

• 360g. sweet potatoes, peeled
• 250g. ricotta
• 1/4 cup. maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, grated
• 2 tsp. fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• a good quality loaf
• fresh mint and maple syrup for garnish
• grated nutmeg for garnish (optional)

Peel sweet potatoes and place them in a pot with boiling water. Continue to boil for 30 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are cooked through and soft. Drain them and leave to cool for 5-6 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, roughly chop and mash. If you don’t want too much arm exercise, you can do this in a food processor. When the mash reaches the texture you want, mix in 180-190g of ricotta (leave the rest for garnish on top), maple syrup, nutmeg and chopped mint leaves.

Slice the loaf and toast. Place the sweet potato mash, ricotta and mint leaves on top of the toast. Add a final garnish of grated nutmeg and maple syrup.