April 19, 2018

Roasted Sweet Potato in Cape Gooseberry Sauce

What did I feel like eating today? Cape gooseberries- so I made roasted sweet potato in cape gooseberry sauce. The warm, sugary, hearty sweet potatoes add a earthy element to the bright, zingy, sweet-and-sour, pure sunshine of a cape gooseberry sauce, with notes of rosemary catching you. It is a decidedly savory dish, although each of the elements is rather sweet. This dish is an incredible side, and would be delicious with quinoa, some tofu, or a large plate full of hearty braised greens.

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The Cape Gooseberry Sauce Inspiration

Right now I’m going through a little bit of a cape gooseberry (also sometimes called golden berry) obsession. It all started when I picked up a pack from the grocery store, to make the most amazing raspberry, gooseberry and walnut clafoutis. And like that, I was sold. The bright gold berries are native to South America (and I’m all about crops native to the Americas), and are a close relative to the tomatillo. The one’s I got had already been removed from the paper-husk they grow in, leaving the golden, slightly sticky skin exposed. They’re firm, juicy, and ready to burst (a little like a tomato), but the inside is sweet and bright. Nutritionally speaking, cape gooseberries are low in calories, and contain a good amount of vitamin C, thiamine, and niacin. But more importantly, they are straight up delicious.

Now really, I made this recipe entirely because I wanted to cook with cape gooseberries. I paired with sweet potato in an attempt bring a dessert-feel to a savory side dish. This sauce would taste pretty amazing on just about anything, though. Pour it over your favorite veggie, or dip fresh bread in it. Use it as a salad dressing. You can even use it for desserts. If you wanted to make it a little more dessert-friendly, leave out the rosemary and add another tablespoon or so of sugar to the sauce.

Feelin’ Sweet, Potato? Try one of these sweet potato recipes

Is Wine Even Vegan?

One thing to keep in mind when making this sauce is I use a white wine in it, and not all wines are vegan. While most wines are completely vegan in their final ingredients, the wine undergoes processing and filtering using non-vegan ingredients, such as casein, gelatin, or even fish bladder. I always check my wines with Barnivore before purchasing- it’s not a perfect system, but since wine companies rarely mention if they’re vegan or not on the labels, it’s the best source I know of.

So crack open the vegan wine, try not to eat all your gooseberries, and let’s get cooking. Roasted sweet potato in cape gooseberry sauce, here we come!

Roasted Sweet Potato in Cape Gooseberry Sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Total Time: 60 minutes

Yield: 2 potatoes

Serving Size: 1 potato

Roasted Sweet Potato in Cape Gooseberry Sauce

Ingredients

Two large sweet potatoes
1 cup of cape gooseberries
1/3 cup white wine
1 tbsp. sugar
Pinch of salt
A sprig of rosemary
1/3 cup water
Vegan butter for serving (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Use a fork to pierce the sweet potatoes skin several times, and place on a baking sheet. Once the oven has heated, bake for 45-60 minutes, until soft.
Add the gooseberries, white wine, water, sugar, salt and rosemary to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, allowing it to continue to simmer for around 10 minutes. The gooseberries should be soft and split. Remove the rosemary spring, and use an immersion blender to break up the berries. Continue cooking the sauce on the stove, and place the rosemary back in the pot. Allow to reduce until it is a consistency you like (I let mine cook another 10 minutes).
Once the sweet potatoes have cooked, remove them from the oven. Cut a slit down each of the potatoes. Serve hot, with vegan butter (if desired) and the warm gooseberry sauce on top.