Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

This is an old Martha Stewart FOOD Magazine recipe that I'd never gotten around to trying.  These are a little bit sweet and a little bit savory, which is a nice combination.

TWICE-BAKED SWEET POTATOES

Recipe Notes

These take between 1.5-2 hours start to finish, so make sure to allow for extra preparation time.  I omitted the chives in the version shown above and it turned out great.  If your sweet potato skin falls apart a little bit when you scoop out the sweet potato, you can reshape the skin when you add the contents back in.  The skin will adhere to the filling.  This recipe is easily halved.

Ingredients

• 5 medium sweet potatoes
• 4 oz. fresh goat cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tbsp. finely chopped fresh chives
• 1/4 c. chopped pecans
• 1/4 c. panko bread crumbs
• 4 tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Prick sweet potatoes several times with a fork and wrap in foil.

3.  Bake approximately 1 hour or until tender when pierced with a knife.

4.  When cool enough to handle, cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise.  

5.  Scoop out all but 1/4 inch flesh from inside sweet potato skins.

6.  Arrange skins in a single layer in a 9x13-inch baking dish.

7.  Place sweet potato flesh, goat cheese, salt, pepper, chives, and 2 tbsp. butter in a food processor.  Process until smooth.

8.  Spoon mixture into potato skins.

9.  In a small bowl, combine remaining butter, panko, and chopped pecans.  Spoon panko mixture over the top of the sweet potatoes.

10.  Bake at 375 degrees or until topping is golden, approx. 10-12 minutes.