Sweet Potato Pasta with Smoky Breadcrumb Topping
The use of caramelized sweet potatoes in a pureed pasta sauce gives a luscious, buttery texture, as well as a substantial texture. Topped off with a little smoky crunch, it’s purely delicious!
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 2 cups cooked sweet potato flesh yellow or orange, see note for cooking tip
- 2 med-large cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt adjust to taste, see directions
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 tbsp chickpea miso or another mellow miso like brown rice miso
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- couple pinches freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 ½ tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
For pasta:
- 1 1/4 lb. whole-grain pasta of choice can be gluten-free, see note
Breadcrumb Topping:
- 1 cup whole-grain breadcrumbs can be gluten-free
- 1/4 cup ground almonds almond meal, or ground pumpkin seeds for nut-free version (can use more breadcrumbs if preferred)
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika rounded
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Prepare pasta according to pasta directions, and cooking to ‘al dente’ (retaining a slight bite, not fully soft) while preparing pasta sauce and breadcrumb topping.
Pasta Sauce: In a blender, add sweet potato along with the garlic, salt, pepper, tahini, miso, 1 cup of the water, thyme, paprika, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Puree until becoming smooth and then add remaining water and puree again until fully smooth.
Breadcrumb Topping: Combine breadcrumbs and almond/pumpkin seed meal with smoked paprika and sea salt. Bake at 375 for 7-8 mins until crumbs turn golden. Be sure to stir once or twice through baking so the crumbs brown evenly. Also watch carefully as the mixture can quickly burn once it becomes toasty. After 4-5 minutes, keep a check on it. Let cool fully, then store in airtight container in fridge until ready to use.
- Once pasta is just about cooked (but not fully soft), drain but don’t rinse. Return to the pot with the pasta sauce over medium-low heat. Allow sauce to heat and thicken with the pasta for a few minutes. (See note if adding spinach) Taste, and season with extra salt or pepper or other seasonings if desired. Serve, topping each portion with the breadcrumbs topping.
- Serves 4-5.
Notes
- Sweet Potato Cooking Note: Rinse sweet potatoes but do not peel or pierce. Place whole on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake at 425 for 40-60 minutes (baking time will depend on whether you are using smaller or larger sweet potatoes). Bake until fully softened and caramelizing. For 2 cups, use 1 very large sweet potato or 2 smaller (see note). After baking, let cool slightly.
- Sweet Potato Note: It’s always helpful to bake extra as you can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze for a couple of months. Let cool enough to remove skins, and use in recipe or cool further and then store in airtight container in fridge until ready to make the pasta.
- Pasta Note: Many varieties of dry pasta are packaged in 1 lb bags. This recipe yields a generous amount of sauce, and so you can use more than 1 lb of pasta to stretch it out if you like. I typically use about 1 1/4 lb of dry pasta. If you only want to use 1 lb, your pasta will just be a little “saucier”.
- Spinach option: For a ‘greens’ boost, try adding 2-3 cups of baby spinach leaves. Add the spinach while heating the sauce, working through until just wilted. HOWEVER, do not use spinach if you expect to have leftovers to reheat. It does not taste good in this sauce when reheated. If you want to add the greens in this case, gently steam separately and add to individual portions.