This isn’t the first aligot we’ve made – for those of you unfamiliar with this dish, it’s a French specialty that combines potatoes, cream, and cheese.  You can think of it like fancy, cheesy French mashed potatoes.  Most traditional versions use regular white potatoes, but we found this recipe in the New York Times and decided to try out an aligot made with sweet potatoes.  We adapted our recipe based on what we could find at the grocery store, and we think our take on aligot came out great!  This makes for an interesting side dish or, since it’s so rich, you can split the recipe in half and make it into two small meals.

You’ll need:

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• Sage
• Thyme
• Heavy cream
• Butter
• Garlic
• Nutmeg
• An 8-ounce block of white cheddar cheese
• An 8-ounce wheel of brie

Start by cutting your sweet potatoes into large chunks and placing them in a pot.  Submerge the potatoes in a generous amount of salted water and bring everything to a boil, then simmer the potatoes for about 15 minutes.

While you’re waiting, pour about 1/4 inch of olive oil in a small pan and warm it over medium heat.  Place a handful of sage leaves in the oil and fry for just a minute, until they’re crisp.

Lay the sage out on paper towels when it’s done and sprinkle with sea salt, then set the leaves aside to cool.

Then in a small pot pour out 1/4 cup of cream and place in a few thyme sprigs.  Warm the cream over medium heat until it begins to simmer, then turn the heat off and take the thyme out.

Once the potatoes are done, drain them well and then pass them through a ricer back into the pot they boiled in.

Turn the heat under your pot on low, then add in 6 tablespoons of butter (that should be 3/4 of a stick) plus a grated garlic clove and 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg.  Stir everything together until the butter is melted, then pour in your cream and mix that in too.

Grate up your cheddar cheese and add that in by small handfuls …

… then cut your brie into small chunks and stir that in as well.  Mix the aligot until all the cheese have fully melted and combined into the potatoes.

To serve, spoon the aligot into bowls and top with your sage leaves.

Et voilà!  This aligot requires only a few ingredients and minimal prep – really the only hard part is doing a lot of stirring to make sure the cheeses get fully incorporated.  The result is an incredibly rich, creamy dish with the unique flavor of sweet potatoes and a few herbs to liven everything up.  The serving isn’t large, but you really only need a little bit of this creamy, cheesy dish to feel satisfied.