I am always on the hunt for easy dishes I can make in advance and take to friends as part of a communal bring-a-dish lunch or if guests are staying. I want to spend as much time as possible with them rather than slaving over a hot stove. This Sweet Potato and Spinach Bake is great to make as a double amount and freeze for expected or unexpected guests, or take to friends to pop in the oven for a lunch. Or just make as two smaller dishes rather than one big one.
It’s very rich so is perfect served with just simple salads and reheats well the next day in the unlikely event you have any leftover! If you are vegan you can substitute the cream for tinned coconut milk and it still tastes great.
Sweet Potato and Spinach Bake
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 small or 1 large leek, green top removed, finely sliced and well washed
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 600ml double cream or tinned coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons of dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 750g spinach, wilted and squeezed out to remove all the liquid
- 4 small to medium sweet potatoes
- salt and pepper
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the oven to 180deg. You will need one large lasagne dish or a couple of smaller lasagne style dishes for this.
- Step 2 Squeezed out the spinach to remove all the liquid and set to one side. Peel and chop the sweet potato into thin slices.
- Step 3 Heat the oil and sauté the leek over a medium heat, after 5mins add the garlic and cook for a further 2 mins. The leek should be soft.
- Step 4 Add the cream, herbs and spices and a few good grinds of salt and pepper to the leek pan. Bring to the boil and immediately remove from the heat. Add the spinach to the mix.
- Step 5 Now you need to layer up your potato and leek and spinach mix. You need to start and end with a layer of sweet potato and the number of layers will be dependent on the size of your dish.
- Step 6 When you are finished pop in the oven for around 50mins to an hour as again the size of your dish will make a difference. It’s cooked when the potato is all soft and the top is golden brown.