sweet potato wedges with lemongrass crème fraîche

April 18, 2012

This dipping sauce is incredible. Thank you Ottolenghi for yet another stellar recipe. The man knows no bounds. It’s a simple combination of crème fraîche with diced lemongrass, fresh ginger, lime zest and juice, and salt, resulting in a cool, zingy, tart, creamy delight to dunk crispy-tender spears of sweet potato into.

One of my friends commented that she loved how long the sweet potato wedges are and I agree – they’re almost comically long and so satisfying to dunk in that lemongrass crème fraîche. You want them to bake long enough to become tender but I left them 15 minutes longer still, to make sure they had crispy-brown edges. Perfect.

Have you ever tried crème fraîche? If you live in the U.K., likely yes, but if you’re from the U.S. then maybe not – it doesn’t seem to be as popular here by a long shot. That said, I found it easily at my local co-op and rumour has it Trader Joe’s sells it so it’s not that rare. Seek it out and if you can’t find it you could actually make your own by adding a small amount of cultured buttermilk or sour cream to heavy cream, and allowing it to stand for several hours at room temperature until the bacterial cultures act on the cream.

Sweet Potato Wedges with Lemongrass Crème Fraîche
from Plenty: Vibrant Recipes from London’s Ottolenghi

Ingredients

3 medium sweet potatoes (weighing about 2lbs total)
4 tbsp olive oil1.5 tsp ground coriander
3.4 tsp coarse sea salt
1 fresh red chile, diced
1 cup cilantro, chopped

Dipping sauce

1/2 lemongrass stalk, very finely diced
3/4 cup crème fraîche
grated zest and juice of 2 limes
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1/2 tsp fine salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F and line a roasting pan with parchment paper. Brush lightly with some of the olive oil. Wash the sweet potatoes but don’t peel them. Cut each in half lengthways. Cut in half again lengthways and then again so that you end up with eight long wedges.
Place wedges in the roasting pan and brush with the rest of the olive oil. Sprinkle with a mixture of the coarse salt and coriander. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until the wedges are tender and crispy at the edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool a bit. You can enjoy them warm or at room temperature which is what we did.
To make the dipping sauce, whisk all the ingredients together, taste and adjust, then set aside.
When ready to serve, place the wedges on a large, flat plate or serving dish. Sprinkle with diced chile and fresh cilantro. Serve with the sauce on the side, for dipping. Serves about four.