Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Apples #FallFest Recipe
Perfect side dish for fall-scalloped sweet potatoes and apples with gorgonzola and spiced butter, topped with an oat-pepita crumble.
I say, “That’s crazy thinking.” Thanksgiving is the holiday that holds the widest range of memories for me, and most of them were great whether I was with a large group or very small.
As an only child of parents who relocated far from family, some Thanksgivings found us ordering our roast turkey and stuffing at a restaurant, just the three of us. Other years we joined gatherings of friends and neighbors. While the grownups shared news of the neighborhood or the nation, us teenagers huddled together to complain about homework and the unfair teachers who assigned it, or giggled about our latest crush.
As an adult who didn’t marry for a very long time, “too long” according to my dad, Thanksgiving was often large, rambling dinners for orphans – adults living too far from family to make back-to-back trips home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. One year, a gang of twenty of us 30-somethings kicked off the ski season up in Tahoe by christening a house we had rented for the season with a huge Thanksgiving dinner. We lined up two long coffee tables, end-to-end, and dined on the floor in front of a roaring fireplace while snow fell outside.
For many years I spent Thanksgiving with either Ina or Gwen, both close friends who gathered me close into their families, and for several years now, my husband and I have traveled back east for some wonderful family Thanksgivings, some with four generations of family sharing a meal. But my favorite year was the Thanksgiving I turned 50. Ten of us drove up to Sea Ranch, a seaside community two hours north of San Francisco, for a weekend of cooking, hiking, wine tasting, and friendship.
I’ve also had my share of solitary Thanksgivings through the years, with hikes in the countryside far from boisterous crowds, sighting a flurry of hundreds of birds suddenly taking off from a protected inlet, and quiet dinners at inns tucked away in the trees. I enjoyed those years just as much, but they were very different. Those Thanksgivings were days of quiet reflection with heartful thanks for the loved ones in my life, and remembrances of those who were gone. Those years were about reconnecting to nature, and to myself, and being grateful to pause my life for a few days.
So if your Thanksgiving gathering is small this year, even a gathering of one or two, it can still be a memorable day filled with a different kind of abundance, surely as nurturing to the soul as spending it with a crowd of family and friends. It’s just different; not more, and definitely not less.
What does this have to do with a scalloped potatoes dish? Very little, except that you can make a large dish of it for a crowd, or scale it down to a serving for one or two. Both are perfect.
Cooking Notes:
I use Emile Henry mini casserole dishes for this dish that measure 7” X 5½” X 1½” deep (not including the handles). The recipe is per casserole dish and can be easily quadrupled without making any adjustments.
Feel free to adjust the spice amount upward, particularly if the spices aren’t new.
These little casseroles can be completely baked a day in advance and reheated in a 350˚F oven.
Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Apples #FallFest
Ingredients...
- 1 small sweet potato, peeled (about ½ pound)
- 1 apple, cored and peeled
- a few shavings of red onion
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 Tbsp coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp gorgonzola cheese
- ¼ cup Half and Half
- 2 Tbsp oats
- 1 Tbsp pepitas
Directions...
Heat the oven to 350˚F. Thinly slice the sweet potato, ideally using a mandolin. I slice mine on the thinnest setting of my small tabletop mandolin. Thickly slice the apple into ¼” thick pieces using a sharp knife.
Melt the butter, coconut sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, and salt together. (I zap mine in a microwave safe dish for 30 seconds, and stir.)
Arrange two layers of thin sweet potato slices in the small casserole dish. Spoon over ½ of the spicy butter. Arrange the sliced apples and onions on top and dot with gorgonzola. Layer the remaining sweet potato slices on top. Pour the half and half over the layers.
Stir the oats and pepitas into the remaining spicy butter and spoon onto the top of the casserole.
Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Remove the plastic and slide it onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. The potato slices should be fork tender, and the casserole should be bubbly hot.
Serve warm.
2.6
http://thewimpyvegetarian.com/2014/11/scalloped-sweet-potatoes-and-apples-fallfest/
Recipe The Wimpy Vegetarian at http://thewimpyvegetarian.com. I hope you like it!
It’s time again for the Food Network’s #FallFest, and this week’s theme – as we ramp up to Thanksgiving – is all about sharing our favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. (Can you believe it’s only one week away?!) So go check out some ideas for your own table. You might find one or two that become your favorite side dish too. And don’t forget to check out the Food Network #FallFest Pinterest board!
Favorite Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Feed Me Phoebe: Healthy Stuffed Mushrooms with Creamed Kale
The Heritage Cook: Maple Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Candied Pecans (Gluten-Free)
Jeanette’s Healthy Living: 100 Healthy Holiday Side Dish Recipes
Devour: Winning Thanksgiving Side Dishes
The Lemon Bowl: Stuffed Acorn Squash with Chorizo and Farro
The Mom 100: Lentils and Carrots with Dried Apricots
Big Girls, Small Kitchen: Maitake, Leek & Bacon Dressing
Weelicious: Vegan Whipped Coconut Sweet Potatoes
The Cultural Dish: Pumpkin Risotto
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Sweet Potato Biscuits
Red or Green: Cheese Ball with Everything Spice
Daisy at Home: Roasted Cranberry Pear Sauce
Swing Eats: Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Thyme and Rosemary
Elephants and the Coconut Trees: Baby Lima Beans Salad with Bell Pepper and Pomegranate
Dishing With Divya: Ash Gourd Raita
Domesticate Me: 12 Easy and Impressive Thanksgiving Sides
The Wimpy Vegetarian: Scalloped Sweet Potatoes and Apples | #FallFest
FN Dish: Colorful Thanksgiving Vegetable Sides — Fall Fest
Pin It Tags: #FallFest, apples, featured, Food Network, sweet potatoes