Cheesy Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Basil Pesto
Nov 04, 2016, Updated Feb 04, 2021
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Cheesy Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Basil Pesto – Twice baked, savory sweet potatoes stuffed with a delicious basil pesto mixture, and topped with melty mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce!
Cheesy Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes stuffed with pesto and topped with cheese + marinara sauce! My gosh, I could eat all of those up there.
Before I go on, can I tell you that this is the happiest of Fridaaaaays! Know why?! BECAUSE we’re in Chicago, celebrating the CUBS! ⚾ ⚾ ⚾
Can you believe it?!? I’m pretty sure pigs ARE flying, hell DID freeze over, and the damn goat is finally dead. All while we fly the “W”! GO CUBS GO!!
I lived just a few blocks from Wrigley Field for many years, and witnessed many ups and downs at those games, but I can definitely say all of that WAS and always WILL BE worth it. *wiping off tears of pride* I can’t wait until next year!
You came here for the taters, I know. But STILL… I mean…THE Cubs won the World Series! Someone pinch meeee!
Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Basil Pesto
OK OK. So. These Cheesy Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes with Basil Pesto are actually what we were munching on when the Cubbies bounced back with a 3-2 win over the Indians. And, because we Cub fans are extremely superstitious, I feel that my sweet potatoes helped them win. This is MY dream… let’s respect that.
Today we’re going to dress up the classic twice baked sweet potatoes with a beautiful pesto sauce, some cheese, a little more cheese, toasted pine nuts, and tangy marinara. Flavor flavor flavor.
These guys are loaded with deliciousness because, I seriously have no interest in messing around with any potatoes unless they are reallllyyyyyy good. Gotta make those carbs worth all that running on the treadmill, know whaddamean?
BAKED SWEET POTATOES IN THE MICROWAVE
I also have to come clean and tell you that the whole twice-baked thing may not be entirely truuuue… or maybe it is? I cheated. I popped the potatoes in the microwave instead of pre-baking them in the oven because, 6 minutes in the microwave beats 30 minutes in the oven. Am I right? Word.
BASIL PESTO
One thing, real quick – I live for sauces and dressings and pestos. If I can’t find something saucy to put on my food, I will gladly reach over for the plain ol’ yellow mustard. I really don’t mind. I just have to have that bit of creaminess in my food. I hope you can understand.
For that reason, I like my baked sweet potatoes with a swirl of pesto, instead of butter and milk. Let’s not get it twisted, though. I do love butter and milk, but pesto adds whole lot more flavor AND creaminess. See where I’m coming from?
When all that is done, you’re just going to top the taters with shredded mozzarella, melt it, then top it off with marinara sauce and some pine nuts. The amount of perfect in that combination is out.of.control.
ENJOY!
TOOLS AND INGREDIENTS USED IN THIS RECIPE
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Basil Pesto Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 (8 ounces each) sweet potatoes
- 1/2- cup basil pesto
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
- salt and fresh ground pepper, , to taste
- 1/2- cup fancy shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 1/3- cup toasted pine nuts
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce, , for serving
- fresh chopped parsley, , for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Lightly spray a baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Pierce the sweet potatoes 6 times.
- Place on a microwaveable plate and microwave for 6 minutes, rotating halfway through.
- Remove from microwave oven and let stand several minutes.
- Once cool enough to handle, cut them down the middle, lengthwise.
- Scoop out the flesh, careful not to cut through the skins, and transfer to a medium mixing bowl.
- Stir in the basil pesto; add grated parmesan, salt and fresh ground pepper and mix and stir until smooth and well incorporated.
- Taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly.
- Spoon the mixture back into the potato skins.
- Transfer the potatoes to previously prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and add mozzarella cheese and pine nuts; continue to bake for 4 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.
- Remove from oven and let stand couple minutes.
- Transfer to serving plates and top with marinara sauce and chopped fresh parsley.
- Serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Love the recipe and I love Sweet Potatoes even more! But this recipe is amazing I’m truly curious to how it taste!
Oh boy I could have tons of these. They look fantastic!
I am absolutely LOVING this recipe! It is such an unexpected flavor combo, but it sounds and looks amazing. 🙂
First, the World Series: congrats — but I’m an Indians fan, so I’m so very sad (although if it had to be any team, glad it was your Cubs)! What a great series, though!!
Second. If I had these gorgeous sweet potatoes, they might make me feel a little better 😉 This is a fabulous recipe! Maybe my favorite in a long time – LOVE!
This looks amazing!