This is my second recipe to include sweet potatoes in a savory way. The first attempt was good – a lovely and simple gratin – and this one proved to be just as if not more delicious.
I adapted the hash from Closet Cooking and I’ll note the changes along the way. We had this meal for dinner and it was satisfying. It would also make a hearty breakfast.
I picked up some pork belly at the farmer’s market and decided to use this as the meat instead of bacon (which is what the original recipe called for). I knew it would affect the taste, but I thought it might be interesting and different! I browned it in the skillet for about 4 minutes and then set it aside.
The original recipe called for a small onion and a small sweet potato. I used a big onion and two small sweet potatoes, cut them into small pieces and sautéed them with olive oil salt, pepper and garlic.
The brussels sprouts at the farmers market looked great which is ultimately what inspired me to make this dish. If they had looked bad, I would not have made this – good brussels sprouts are KEY.
I added them to the pan with the sweet potato mix, stirred the mixture for 5 minutes, then let the entire mix sit for 5 minutes. I stirred it up, scraping the brown bits and let it sit again before repeating. This helps it brown and those bits are so yummy!
I added the pork belly and stirred everything up. I created four “wells” in the mixture and added the eggs. We don’t particularly love runny eggs, so I let these cook for several minutes until they were “over medium” – still pretty soft, but not runny anymore. You can make the eggs to your desired level of doneness.
We served this with a piece of crusty Italian bread. Sean said this dish was like “a party in his mouth” with so many different flavors and textures. That is a pretty big compliment around here!
- 4 strips pork belly, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 small (or one large) sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1.5 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
- Pinch of dried oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
- 4 eggs
- Cook the pork belly in a skillet over medium heat with salt, pepper and a 1/2 tsp garlic, the set aside
- Add the onion, garlic and sweet potato to the pan and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add the brussels sprouts, saute until tender, about 5 minutes, let sit until the bottoms start to caramelize, about 5 minutes, mix everything up, let sit for 5 minutes and mix it all up.
- Season with salt, pepper, dried oregano and red pepper flakes/cayenne pepper, to taste.
- Stir in the pork belly.
- Create 4 small wells in the hash, add the eggs and cook until the desired level of done-ness.
- Serve with crusty French or Italian bread and enjoy!