Sweet potato rösti with Caesar kale

My biggest gripe with classifying something as an of-the-moment superfood, is that it inevitably leads to that food going “out of fashion” at some stage. It is such a shame, as many so-called superfoods really are fantastic, nutrient-dense foods that have a lot to offer. It was kale this and kale that for quite some time, but this wonderful veg seems to have fallen out of favour. Don’t be a fashion victim! Add this brunch dish, that I developed for the M&S Super Brunch Campaign, to your Boxing Day brunch, and rediscover an old favourite.

The Caesar-style dressing is delicious with the astringent greens and complemented by the sweet potato pancakes. I used the tiny copper pan from the new M&S chef range to make perfectly shaped individual portions. 

This is a fantastic meal, be it for breakfast, brunch or a light supper. Like most things in life, it tastes even better with an egg on top.

Serves 4 – 6

Ingredients for the rösti

4 medium (about 800g) sweet potatoes, peeled

2 spring onions, finely sliced

2 medium eggs, lightly whisked

40g (about 1/4 cup) wholemeal spelt flour or flour of your choice (I use a gluten-free mix)

butter or ghee for frying

Ingredients for the kale

5 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained and chopped

1 small garlic clove, peeled and chopped

small pinch of coarse salt

60ml (1/4 cup) mayonnaise, preferably home-made

15ml (1 tablespoon) freshly squeezed lemon juice

15g (1/4 cup loosely packed) finely grated Parmesan

Freshly ground black pepper

300g kale, thick stalks discarded and torn or chopped into bite-sized pieces

Method

1. For the kale: make the dressing, by placing the anchovies, garlic and salt in a mortar and pounding them together until you have a paste.
2. Stir in the mayonnaise, lemon juice, Parmesan and pepper, and set aside.
3. For the rösti: boil two of the sweet potatoes in a little water until they are just tender around the outside (do not let them get too soft!). Remove from the pot and allow to cool.
4. In the meantime, coarsely grate the other two sweet potatoes and mix with the spring onions, eggs and flour.
5. Finally, coarsely grate the slightly softened sweet potatoes and carefully combine with the rest of the ingredients.
6. Heat a little butter or ghee (or coconut oil) in a frying pan until hot (but not smoking), then add enough batter to make a patty shape. Press down on the batter to ensure it is compact and will hold together.
7. Fry for roughly 5 minutes on each side, or until golden and crispy. Carefully remove with a spatula and keep warm while frying the rest.
8. Whilst your final rösti is frying, gently wilt the kale in a little water over a medium heat. As soon as it is tender, drain, return to the pan and stir through the dressing.
9. Serve the dressed kale on top of the rösti with or without eggs.

*This blog post was written in collaboration with M&S. All content and photos my own.