It goes without saying that this is a time – the time – for comfort food.
I’ve been finding comfort in the everyday meditations and physicalities of the kitchen: the chopping of vegetables, the stirring of sauces, the dipping of small spoons into pots and judging for myself the mix of acidity, sweetness, salinity. Good, warming food is not some universal panacea, but it does help – both making it and eating it.
When it comes to comfort, baked sweet potatoes deliver. These aren’t just economical, simple and warming, they’re also flexible. You can fill them with almost anything. Inspired by Justine Doiron’s recipe, where she opts for a filling of chickpeas sauteed with olives and sundried tomatoes, I sought something more autumnal. I cooked pine nuts and sage leaves in butter until it browned and turned nutty, then added a range of aromatic baking spices, tomato purée and harissa. The chickpeas are mixed into the almost curry-like base, then freshened up with a squeeze of lemon, parsley and crumbles of goat cheese.
The result is as cosy as a warm sweater, nourishing and comforting in a bone-deep way, easy to make and even easier to eat. I loved pairing it with HB&B’s latest 10th anniversary collab, this time with The Kernel. This Tropical Stout is everything I want in a stout: Dark, rich, and full, it still stays at a balanced 5.9% ABV. And thanks to its bold, tropical hopping (and absence of any dessert-like ingredients), it feels like a stout for grown-ups.
I can’t promise a sweet potato and a glass of stout will fix everything that ails you. But they can provide a small reprieve – a dose of the comfort that’s needed right now.
Baked Sweet Potatoes Stuffed with Spiced Harissa Chickpeas and
Goat Cheese
Serves 4
For the chickpea filling:
65g unsalted butter
50g pine nuts
10-15 sage leaves
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon cloves
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and minced
1-2 tablespoons harissa paste
1-2 tablespoons tomato purée
1 700g jar chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I prefer Bold Bean Co)
Juice of 1 lemon
Fine sea salt, to taste Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the sweet potatoes:
4 baking sweet potatoes, rinsed and scrubbed
125g goat cheese
Large handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Line a large baking sheet with foil. Using a fork, stab the sweet potatoes all over to help them release steam as they cook. Arrange evenly on the baking tray.
2. Transfer the sweet potatoes to the oven as soon as it’s preheated. Roast for between 45-60 minutes, or until a knife slips through the potatoes easily. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile, while the sweet potatoes roast, place a large frying pan over medium-low heat and add the butter. Once just melted, add the pine nuts and sage leaves, mixing until evenly coated.
4. Cook for roughly 5-7 minutes, or until the butter is beginning to foam and brown. As soon as you see the butter turning a light shade of brown and it begins to smell nutty and toasty, add the spices and stir through. Cook for 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
5. Add the garlic and ginger and turn the heat down to low. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes, or until the garlic and ginger have lost their raw smell. Add the harissa paste and tomato puree and mix through. Cook for 2-3 minutes more.
6. Next, add the drained chickpeas to the pan. Mix to ensure they’re fully coated in the spiced butter mixture and season with fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently, or until softened and well-incorporated.
7. Squeeze over the lemon juice. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Remove from the heat.
Claire M Bullen is a professional food and travel writer, a beer hound and all-around lover of tasty things. You can follow her at @clairembullen. For more recipes like this, sign up to our HB&B All Killer No Filler beer subscription - you'll receive Claire's recipe and food pairings, plus expert tasting notes, with 10 world-class beers like this one every month.
