Description
Inspired by a sandwich served at the Copake General Store.
If you wish to make a lot of sandwiches, roast more than 1 sweet potato. A one pound sweet potato will yield enough for 2 to 3 sandwiches. (That said, I can eat the entire tray of roasted sweet potatoes myself, so if you can relate, roast more sweet potatoes to be safe.)
The essential elements are: roasted sweet potatoes, mayonnaise or aioli (flavored or not), pickles of some kind (onions, carrots, beets, turnips, etc.), lettuce, and good bread. The CGS also adds goat cheese, which is a delicious addition, but if you don’t like it or if you don’t have it on hand, know that it can be substituted with other cheeses or left out depending on your preferences. Also, the lettuce the CGS uses is tossed in some sort of lemon vinaigrette. For simplicity, I’ve just used lettuce, but if you feel like going the extra mile and making a lemon dressing, go for it.
I am using a homemade aioli, but you certainly could use store-bought mayonnaise. I haven’t tried, but I imagine stirring in a few cloves of minced garlic to a quarter cup of mayonnaise would work nicely here.
For the pickles, if you want to use pickled beets, which are particularly good with the roasted sweet potatoes, you can cook a few beets (Instant Pot or roasted), peel them, slice them thinly, then cover them with vinegar: I stir 1 teaspoon kosher salt into 1 cup of vinegar until it dissolves; then stack the sliced beets into a jar and pour the vinegar over top. If the beets are not submerged, I top them with more vinegar. I love white balsamic vinegar, but you could use apple cider or really any white vinegar.
Ingredients
to roast the sweet potatoes:
- 1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick (about 1 lb. post peeling and slicing)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- kosher salt to taste
for assembly:
- good bread, I like the dukkah variation of the peasant bread for this one
- homemade aioli or purchased mayonnaise, see notes
- roasted sweet potatoes
- some sort of pickle: carrots, onions, turnips, beets, see notes
- lettuce
- goat cheese, optional
Instructions
- Roast the sweet potatoes: Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Pile the sweet potato slices onto a rimmed sheet pan. Pour the olive oil over top and toss to coat. Spread into an even layer. Season the exposed surface of each sweet potato slice with some kosher salt. Transfer to the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Flip the slices. Season lightly with salt. Transfer to the oven, and cook for 4 to 5 more minutes, keeping a close watch to ensure they don’t burn. Cook longer if necessary — every oven is different. The slices should be beginning to caramelize at the edges and should be tender in the middle.
- Assemble the sandwiches: Lay two slices of bread (toast the bread if you wish—I do when the bread is not freshly baked) on a work surface. Spread a thin layer of aioli or mayonnaise over each slice. Top one slice with a layer of roasted sweet potatoes, then a layer of whatever pickle you are using, then a layer of lettuce, then some crumbled goat cheese, if you are using. Close the sandwich, cut it in half, and eat immediately.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Sandwiches
- Method: Roast
- Cuisine: American
