Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite vegetables. I usually prepare them very simply, roasting them at 400 degrees for an hour or so. The timing will depend on their size. I like them best when the skin is charred and the inside meltingly soft.

Sweet potato fries or chunks are also delicious. Add a bit of cornstarch to the batch along with some seasonings and oil, you don’t need much. Pop them in a convection oven or air fryer at 400 degrees until they are done to your liking with a crispy exterior. Chunks of about 1/2 inch in size will take about 30 minutes, shake the basket every 10 minutes or so. Sticks will be a little faster, about 20 minutes. The timing depends on your brand of air fryer, they are all slightly different so you need to keep checking.

I often cook chunked butternut squash in the same way. The cornstarch (you only need a little) ensures the outside gets extra crispy.

Air fryer butternut squash

But the title of this post is “a new way”, a way I hadn’t encountered before for preparing sweet potatoes.

I know they look like hockey pucks, don’t let that put you off. I encountered this recipe in the book Always Add Lemon by Danielle Alvarez, she is the chef at the Sydney restaurant, Fred’s. It’s a cookbook I received as a present a year or so ago and hadn’t had a chance to examine carefully. I recently dusted and reorganized our bookcase and discovered several cookbooks that had been forgotten since they were gifted or purchased.

These take some time but most all of it is hands off. Start them the day before you want to serve them so they have time to dry out a little in the fridge.

Slow-roasted, crispy sweet potatoes (serves 2-4)

• 2-4 sweet potatoes
• Olive oil for rubbing and drizzling
• Sea or kosher salt

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
2. Pierce the unpeeled sweet potatoes with a fork or sharp knife and rub with olive oil to coast lightly. Sprinkle with sea or kosher salt and wrap them tightly in aluminum foil. Bake until they are completely soft. The timing will depend on their size, usually 1-2 hours.
3. When done, unwrap the foil and cut them crosswise into several pieces, about 1 inch thick.
4. Allow them to cool, then crush each piece to flatten it. Try to push the ‘meat’ back under the skin.
5. Leave the potatoes, uncovered, to dry out in the fridge overnight.
6. When ready to cook, reheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
7. Place the potatoes on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Coat each piece with a generous drizzle of olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt.
8. Roast for another hour, flipping them every 15 minutes or so. After that time they should be crispy on the outside, and soft and creamy on the inside. Cook a little longer if they don’t feel super crispy.
9. Drain on a paper towel and serve. Or cool and reheat when ready to eat them.

Slow-roasted, crispy sweet potatoes