For this, I bake marinated sweet potatoes in the oven. On top go Middle Eastern-spiced ground meat, spicy and slightly smoky diced eggplant and zucchini, salty feta and sweet caramelized onions. The whole kitchen smells wonderful while it’s cooking. As you eat, the individual components melt together into a glorious dish.
Middle Eastern Loaded Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 large sweet potatoes
- 500 g mixed ground beef and pork
- 1 eggplant
- 1 zucchini
- 1 chili pepper
- 2 small garlic cloves
- 3 red onions
- 2 scallions
- 2 tbsp agave syrup or honey
- 200 g feta
- 4 sprigs cilantro, optional
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, optional
- 1 tsp coriander seeds, optional
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- salt, pepper, pimentón (sweet)
- olive oil for frying
Spices to taste
- ground coriander, ground ginger, ground cardamom, ground cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, chili, paprika, pepper
- or
- 2 tsp Middle Eastern spice blend
- salt, pepper
Nutrition per serving, approx.: 938 kcal41 g protein94 g carbs45 g fat16 g fiber
Estimates, calculated from the ingredients.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F) convection/fan.
- Wash 4 large sweet potatoes thoroughly and pat dry.
- Brush the sweet potatoes with the spiced oil, place them on a baking sheet (lined with parchment paper if you like) and put them in the hot oven for about 40 – 45 min.
- Meanwhile, halve the 3 red onions and cut them into strips. Trim 2 scallions and cut them into pieces about 3 cm long.
- Heat a little olive oil in a small pan and slowly braise the prepared red onions over medium heat until soft.
- At the same time, cut the 1 eggplant into slices about 1 cm thick, salt lightly and let them sit briefly on a paper towel.
- Cut the 1 zucchini into cubes of about 1cm.
- Halve the 1 chili pepper, remove the seeds and cut it into thin rings (it’s best to test the heat first so it doesn’t end up too spicy).
- Finely dice the 2 small garlic cloves.
- Pat the moisture off the eggplant slices and dice them small as well.
- Heat plenty of olive oil in a pan and fry the diced eggplant and zucchini, the garlic and the fresh chili over high heat.
- When the eggplant and zucchini are done, season the cubes with salt, pepper and a pinch of pimentón and keep them warm.
- Add the prepared scallions to the onions, which have softened in the meantime, turn up the heat and fry briefly. Add 2 tbsp agave syrup or honey and 0.25 tsp salt and caramelize the onions for about 1 min. Turn the heat down and keep the onions warm.
- In another pan, fry 500 g mixed ground beef and pork with a little olive oil until crumbly and season with the spices plus salt and pepper to taste.
- Crumble 200 g feta a little and set it out in a bowl.
- Pick the leaves from 4 sprigs cilantro and chop them coarsely.
- To serve, carefully cut the finished sweet potatoes open in the middle and pull them apart slightly. Top with the ground meat, the eggplant and zucchini, some crumbled feta, the caramelized onions and cilantro.
Tips
- Instead of plating the sweet potatoes ready to eat, you can also put the individual finished components into small bowls and set them on the table so everyone can help themselves.
- Of course, you could also quickly fry the ground meat with the eggplant, zucchini and onions together in one pan. But it’s precisely the different seasoning of the individual components that makes this dish so special. Every bite is a treat of its own, and the little bit of extra work is absolutely worth it.
- If you don’t have fennel and coriander seeds at home, you can skip this step. It just adds extra flavor to the sweet potatoes.
- The sweet potatoes are done when a smooth knife slides through them easily. When shopping, it’s best to make sure they are all the same size / thickness so the cooking time is identical.
Find more kitchen tips from A to Z in our Kitchen A–Z.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Middle Eastern-Style Sweet Potatoes
Can I replace the feta?
Yes, soft goat cheese works wonderfully too.
Which spices should I use?
If you’re new to Middle Eastern spices, use a high-quality ready-made spice blend. Make sure it doesn’t contain any salt.
How long do stuffed sweet potatoes with ground beef and feta keep?
Cover leftovers or put them in a container and keep them in the fridge. They keep for 2–3 days there. To reheat, put them in the oven at 180 °C (350 °F) for about 15 minutes. Sprinkle fresh herbs on top afterward.
Can I freeze stuffed sweet potatoes?
The stuffed sweet potatoes get quite soft after thawing. The ground beef filling freezes better on its own, portioned into freezer containers. It keeps for about 3 months and thaws overnight in the fridge. Then add feta and freshly baked sweet potatoes.
