Another weekend down, another weekend spent at a looong swim meet in March (welcome to life, currently). Keeping with the theme of all the simple, yet exploding-with-flavor recipes: these Pesto Stuffed Sweet Potatoes came into my life. Mostly because I was trying to play “Chopped” in my kitchen with some leftovers – which honestly, is how a lot of my recipe ideas are born. I had some leftover baked sweet potatoes, some chicken sausage, and a bunch of basil lying around from a spring-inspired recipe I cannot WAIT to share with you guys soon…so I decided to whip up a batch of my ultimate dairy free pesto. Which, by the way, is absolutely insane if I do say so myself and you should probably whip yourself up a batch immediately. Just saying.

So I threw them all together with some fresh tomatoes + pine nuts on top and BOOM. Definitely wasn’t expecting that one. Growing up Italian (okay, really new york/new jersey italian) means my comfort food is pasta. Spaghetti with red sauce was the only thing I ever wanted when I was sick growing up, and we ate it allllll the time because my brother and I were picky little jerks as kids who didn’t eat barely any vegetables – or really, anything that didn’t come out of a box.

I guess you can say I’ve upgraded a little with my food choices lately but I still crave pasta when I’m too exhausted to make anything or when I’m sick. This time I didn’t have any pasta on hand (THE HORROR) but good news for you guys is it turned into a Whole30-friendly recipe that’ll satisfy your pasta cravings with this insane combo of pesto and sweet potato. The pairing of sweet from the potatoes and salty/savory from the pesto is mouthwatering, and I can’t get enough!!

Do it. You can thank me later. Oh, and if you’re starving and need to get food on the table like 5 minutes ago BUT  don’t have any leftover baked sweet potatoes, try using your instant pot! I included those instructions in the recipe too.

Pesto Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

55 mins

 

Dana: Real Food with Dana

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 4 medium baked sweet potatoes*
• 1 batch the ultimate dairy-free pesto
• 4 italian chicken sausages*
• 1 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
• Pine nuts, for serving
• Fresh basil, for serving

Directions

1. First, bake the sweet potatoes. Preheat the oven to 400 F and poke each potato a few times with a fork. Stick them on a baking sheet and pop them in the oven to bake for about 45 minutes, until easily pierced with a fork and cooked through.
2. When the sweet potatoes have 12-15 minutes left (depending on the size of your sausages - smaller ones will take less time), stick the sausages in the oven.
3. Meanwhile, make the pesto. Set aside until the potatoes are done.
4. Once the sweet potatoes and sausages are done, pull them all out of the oven. Slice the sweet potatoes down the middle, and cut the sausages up into slices. Stuff the sweet potatoes with about 2 Tbsp of pesto, sausage, tomatoes, and sprinkle with some pine nuts + basil for garnish.
5. Dig in!

Notes

Make it faster: use your instant pot to bake your sweet potatoes! Insert a steamer basket or wire rack into the bottom of the instant pot. Add 1 cup of water to the pot. Wash and scrub the sweet potatoes until all dirt is removed. Place them in the instant pot on top of the steamer basket any way you can fit them. Replace the lid and seal it. Set the instant pot for MANUAL (high pressure) for 15 minutes. Once the time is up, quick release the lid or allow the pressure to release naturally (this will take about an additional 15 minutes). Serve immediately.
**For Whole30, make sure you choose (or make your own!) Italian sausage. Applegate has a compliant one!

3.5.3208

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