#vegan #plantbased #glutenfree #nutfree
I love exciting flavor combos. I mean, luuuuvvv. I love flavors almost as much as I love color. Actually, it’s probably a tie.
These sweet potato fritters are exploding with flavor. They are just the right amount of spicy. You know that spicy that’s like on the tip of your tongue and gives you cravings for more? So you have that here. These are smoky, spicy, and sweet, all at the same time. Like I said- an explosion💥.
Oh, did I mention they are baked? I always find baking fritters or burgers to be risky. I don’t love frying, but I have a bit of control as to what is happening. With baking, and this is with vegan and with meat burgers, things can end up dry and bland.
But these turned out fantastic. The baking time is longer then I like (about 20 minutes on each side 😱), but the wait is well worth it. These are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and are incredible straight out of the oven.
I also paired them with vinegary AND sweet dips. The chimichurri balances the sweet notes, and the pear sauce (basically apple sauce but with pears. Get it😏) balances the spicy ones. It’s like a party in your mouth.
Please try this out and let me know how it comes for you. These would be great to bring to any party, people will be snacking on them all night. If they last that long.
Now, let’s spice it up!
Photo taken with Focos 
Processed with Focos
Ingredients for the Sweet Potato Fritters:
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 cup of parsley leaves
- Half jalapeno pepper or any other small green spicy pepper. Seeds and white inside removed.
- 1 tbsp of Smokey paprika
- 1 tsp Red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tbsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Ginger Powder
- 1 tsp Nutmeg (optional)
- 1/2 tbsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
- 1 cup of Oat flour (or wheat flour if not gluten-free)
- 1 cup of Aquafaba
- Olive oil
Ingredients for the Chimichurri:
- Parsley Leaves (not stems, please!)
- Yellow or red pepper
- Red onion
- Olive oil
- Red wine vinegar
Ingredients for pear sauce (a take on apple sauce):
- 1-2 ready to eat pears
Method for fritters:
- Pre-heat your oven to 350F or 180C
- Grate sweet potatoes with the grater insert in your food processor.
- Remove the grated sweet potatoes and put them into a mixing bowl.
- Put the food processor insert in the food processor and process 1/3 of the grated sweet potatoes. Add garlic, parsley, and the jalapeno and process until smooth but chunky. Add back to the grated sweet potatoes.
- Add to the bowl the red pepper flakes, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, pepper, flour, and aquafaba. Mix until well combined.
- Place a sheet of baking paper on and drizzle with some olive oil. Spread out with fingers or a paper towel.
- Create small patties using about on a baking sheet and drizzle a tablespoon worth of the sweet potato mixture. On one cooking tray, you can fit about 16 small patties. You might have to bake this in two shifts. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes on one side. When ready to flip the fritters should flip easily and should be golden on the side that was touching the paper. Some fritters may stick to the paper, use a spatula and fork to help loosen and flip.
- Bake for another 10 minutes on the other side.
- Remove from the oven and let cool if you can handle it. Otherwise, taste a small bit, but be careful not to burn yourself.
Method for Chimichurri:
- Add all Chimichurri ingredients to your food processor. Process until you get a pesto consistency. Smooth but chunky.
Method for pear sauce:
- Peel and cut pears. Remove stems and seeds.
- Place pair in an oven or microwave-ready dish. Add water to cover the pairs halfway.
- In the microwave: cook for about 3-5 minutes or until very soft
- In the oven: bake for 10 minutes or until very soft
- Blend in a container using a hand blender or use a standing blender.
