Sweet Potato and Turnip Pie

This is a savory dish (unlike many which use sweet potato) which combines sweet potato, the bitter-sweetness of turnip, the sharpness of fromage frais and the aroma of herbs and spices.

I had the basics of this recipe from the American Institute of Cancer Research but I arrived there from a search, so I don't really know what it has to do with Cancer Research.

Never mind. Here is my version of it, which is somewhat richer and has more protein (from the fromage frais and the gram flour) than the original. I added gram flour (basically cooked and powdered chickpeas) because the sweet potato and the turnip seemed rather watery and I also wanted to avoid the heaviness of wheat flour. The mixture was still a little sweet and bland, even with the spices, and I felt it needed a slight cheesy/acidy bite to it, hence the fromage frais.

It derives crunch from the sauteed onion and pumpkin seeds.

Here is what I did.

INGREDIENTS
1lb sweet potato peeled and diced into 1" chunks
1lb turnip or swede/rutabaga peeled and diced into 1" chunks
1 medium onion, chopped finely
2 tbs pumpkin seeds, roughly chopped
1 tsp medium curry powder
1/2 tsp caraway seed
1/2 tsp ajwan seed (also called 'lovage'. It has a strong thyme flavour, so about 1 tsp of dried thyme or 2 tsp of chopped fresh thyme would do as well.)
1 tbs vegetable oil (canola/rapeseed)
100 g of gram flour
150 ml fromage frais, soured cream or yoghourt
200 g cheddar cheese, grated

METHOD
Steam the sweet potato and turnip chunks for 15 - 20 minutes. The turnip takes a little longer than the sweet potato to become soft.

Turn into a large bowl and mash well with a potato masher.

Place the seeds and curry powder in a pan and toast dry for a few seconds over a medium heat then add the oil and onions and saute until the onions are transparent and just beginning to colour.

Add the onion/spice mix to the mash and mix well. Add the gram flour little by little and mix. Add the fromage frais and mix till well blended. Taste and add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. I added about 1 tsp of salt (by the quarter tsp) and felt that it might have done with more but, since the dish is topped with cheese, I didn't want to overdo it.

Spoon the mix into a shallow dish - I found that a 9" round earthenware gratin dish was just right - and top generously with grated cheese.

Bake at 180°C for 30 mins or until the top is bubbling and golden.

Serve with peas or green beans as a main dish or as an accompaniment to roast pork or gammon.

I found that as a main supper dish the quantities given above were enough for 4 people. As a side dish, I guess it would serve 6 or 8.

Instead of sweet potatoes, one might use pumpkin but this is much more watery, so one would either sauté the mash a little to boil off the water or add some white potatoes to thicken it.

The pumpkin seeds I used were, of course, the green hulled ones that one can buy to add to mueseli or salads. I wouldn't for a moment consider using the seeds that one gets out of a Halloween pumpkin - far too much trouble to get the hard cases off! Use these, instead, for growing next year's pumpkins, sprouting as a salad, stringing together (suitably coloured) as bracelets and necklaces, feeding to birds and squirrels or making into collages ... there are an awful lot of seeds in a pumpkin and they seem to be covered in a substance that make Astroglide look like treacle!