New Recipe!

A few weeks ago, I got my first spring-form pan for Christmas.   Eager to see how it works, I concocted this recipe.  I was initially inspired by a Sweet Potato, Chard, and Tallegio Torte recipe from my favorite magazine, Vegetarian Times.  The sweet potato is both the crust and topping for this torte, so it is very hearty and filling. It features some "southwest" flavors including roasted red peppers, smoky chipotle peppers, and salty cotija cheese.  You can always substitute ingredients, change measured amounts, etc. That goes for all of my recipes; I see recipes as inspiration for creative thinking in the kitchen.
Warning: it is a little on the spicy side.

Layered Sweet Potato and Greens Torte 

with Smoky Chipotle Peppers and Salty Cotija

Ingredients:

2 lbs. yams

1 bunch of collard greens

½ white onion

2 red bell peppers

1 cup chopped button mushrooms

1 small can chipotle peppers (in adobo sauce)

½ cup cotija cheese

¼ cup olive oil, for oiling pan

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Mince the onion and mushrooms, chiffonade the greens, and slice the yams into rounds that are 1/8 inch thick.  To roast the peppers, first put the flame of a gas burner on medium heat.  With tongs, place the peppers over the flame and char the skin until it becomes black. You can actually set the pepper on the burner and let it blacken that way- just make sure that you keep your eye on it.  Turn occasionally until nearly all of the pepper is charred.  Repeat with second pepper.  Remove from flame and cool.  With your fingers or a small knife, scrape off the black outer skin. To clean the pepper, remove the core, seeds and pithy veins.  It's OK if some black specs remain- I think that's the best part!  After making this mess -it's not the last!- wash your hands and chop.  Open the can of chipotle peppers, pick out the whole peppers, and place on cutting board.   Cut the tip/stem of the pepper off and de-seed.  Once they are clean, finely chop the chipotle peppers and place them in a bowl with the adobo sauce.

Generously oil the bottom of a spring-form pan (because the bottom will eventually be the top of the torte and you want it to brown a little).   Start by placing one yam slice in the center of the pan.   Layer the sweet potatoes around the center slice, overlapping them by at least a half.  Working in a circular motion is the easiest.  You can be creative at this point, mixing in smaller slices (from the ends of the potatoes) and making patterns. Once the bottom of the pan has been covered, begin adding the filling.

Sprinkle in some collards, onions, peppers, and mushrooms.  Scoop up a handful of chipotle sauce and gently massage it into the vegetables and toss. Sprinkle in some cotija.  Repeat layering of sweet potatoes and filling once.  Since the top of the pan will be the crust, layer a generous portion of sweet potatoes to completely cover the torte.

Put the spring-form pan on a baking sheet (with edges) to catch the liquid and put it in oven and bake for 50 minutes.  Remove from oven and carefully press the top of the torte to remove excess liquid.  Flip  the torte up-side down and place on baking sheet or oven-proof serving dish. To brown, place in the broiler for about 2 minutes, being careful that it doesn’t burn.  Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!