Sweet Potato with Mushroom and Cherry Tomato Pesto Topping

Hey Sweeties,

I love nights in on my own –not so much at the weekend but during the week where I make the most of having free reign of the kitchen and can cook more of the food and ingredients I enjoy that I have to often abandon owing to having a slightly vegetable fussy Boyfriend! But in fairness, vegetables aside, the sort of food I love doing for myself don’t really cater for the stomach of a man. I do eat meat but where possible I go without it and Ian bless him wants something a bit more substantial for his dinner understandably.

I have done a couple of recipes on here before and my favourite kind of cooking is the experimental kind whereby I go to the fridge, see what I have leftover to eat, and working out some combinations –some tried and tested, others a bit more risky (but if you have a relatively good palate and understanding of flavours, you rarely create a monstrosity). Tonight I fancied some sweet potato jackets but no idea what to have with them. Usually I have a batch of ratatouille in the fridge but the last was used up a few nights ago and I didn’t want Baked Beans so I reached for the mushrooms… then I noticed some cherry tomatoes… and then most excitedly I noticed a jar of opened pesto, yeah baby!

Here’s what I did:

1. Depending on the size of the sweet potato(s) cook in the microwave for 3-4 minutes on each side.
2. Once softened, put in the (pre-heated) oven until crispy on the outside –time varies as do ovens but on the whole this can take 20 minutes or more depending on how you like your potato.
3. While the potato(s) are cooking, chop a handful of mushrooms and some cherry tomatoes –I like to keep them quite chunky for this.
4. Put a little oil in a pan and turn on the heat. Add the chopped mushrooms and tomatoes and cook.
5. Once they have softened add a couple of teaspoons of pesto and stir together.
6. Take the sweet potato(s) out of the oven and open as you would a normal jacket potato. You can add a bit of butter if you want to (I don’t personally as I find the potato soft & sweet enough). Add the pesto topping and season accordingly. Finish with a light grating of cheese.