Mediterranean Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes With Feta and Olives
Savory twice-baked sweet potatoes: the flesh is mashed with feta, kalamata olives, sundried tomato, toasted fennel and lemon, then returned to the skins and baked until the cheese browns.
Servings 4 halves
Ingredients
For the Potatoes
- 2 medium sweet potatoes about 10 ounces each, scrubbed
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
For the Filling
- 4 ounces sheep's milk feta crumbled, divided
- ⅓ cup pitted kalamata olives chopped, plus 6 halves for the top
- ¼ cup oil packed sundried tomatoes drained and chopped
- 1 small clove garlic finely grated
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds toasted and crushed
- ½ teaspoon coriander seeds toasted and crushed
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ lemon zest and juice
- 3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped, divided
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
Instructions
Bake and Scoop
- Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Scrub and dry the sweet potatoes and prick each one four or five times with a fork.
- Bake them straight on the oven rack, with a sheet pan on the rack below to catch drips, for 50 to 60 minutes, until a knife slides into the center with no resistance. Cool 10 minutes.
- Toast the fennel and coriander seeds in a small dry skillet over medium heat for 60 to 90 seconds, until fragrant. Crush them roughly with the flat of a knife.
- Halve each potato lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a bowl, leaving a ¼ inch wall in each shell. Set the four shells cut side up on a parchment lined sheet pan.
Fill and Bake Again
- Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the grated garlic, the crushed seeds, the oregano, salt and pepper to the warm flesh and mash with a fork until mostly smooth.
- Fold in half the feta, the chopped olives, the sundried tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of the parsley. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, then taste and adjust the salt.
- Divide the filling between the shells and mound it gently without packing it down. Scatter the remaining feta over the tops, tuck in the olive halves and drizzle with the last tablespoon of olive oil.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, until the feta on top is golden and blistered at the edges. Scatter the remaining parsley over and serve hot.
Notes
- Bake them past done: A merely tender potato will not mash smoothly. Wait until a knife meets no resistance at all.
- Mash it warm: Cold sweet potato flesh will not absorb the olive oil.
- Salt last: Feta, olives and sundried tomatoes are all salty. Taste before you add any more.
- No dairy: Skip butter, milk and cream. Olive oil is the fat here and it keeps the dish savory.
- Make ahead: Assemble up to 2 days ahead, refrigerate, and run the second bake from cold with 10 extra minutes.