baked sweet potato chips with harissa and cumin

I was flicking through a BBC food mag in the Woolies queue the other day as one does. I try to skim the entire magazine before reaching the tellers.  I do this to get quick inspiration while waiting in the queue. I stumbled across a recipe for sweet potato wedges with harissa so this became the inspiration behind my recipe.

I simply love the orange variety of sweet potato which we have only been able to get fairly recently in South Africa.  I used to eat them all the time when I traveled and lived in the USA.  There they are called yams.  I love to bake them whole in the oven and then eat them with butter and freshly grated cheddar with a salad on the side.

How to make baked sweet potato with harissa and cumin:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F

Peel and cut 2 large orange sweet potatoes into thick chips and placed in a bowl.  

Add 2 heaped tablespoons of harissa, a teaspoon of ground cumin and a glug of olive oil.  Mix the chips in the spices until fairly evenly coated and then empty them out onto baking sheet.  I love silicone baking paper with the two advantages of preventing any sticking taking place, and facilitating a very easy clean up.

Spread the chips out so that they are in a single layer and a bit spaced out and bake in the hot oven for about 20 minutes until cooked through.  I turned them about half way through which is more important if you are not using a silicone sheet.  sprinkle with salt when they come out the oven (I used smoked sea salt).

Sweet potatoes never really go crispy due to the looser texture of flesh and the high water content. I served these with a bowl of creme fraiche to which I had added chopped chives.

The spicy North African paste adds a stunning contrast to the sweetness of the potato.

PS – This could be a good recipe in an air fryer