Healthy Leek & Gruyere Sweet Potato Skins

First, cook the sweet potatoes. Preheat oven to 375 F. Puncture the sweet potatoes a few times with a fork. Bake sweet potatoes until slightly squishy when squeezed with an oven mitt, about 75 minutes.

If you have time, I recommend refrigerating the sweet potatoes for an hour or two at this point, as they are easier to scoop out neatly when cold. If you don’t have the time, simply let them cool for 10-15 minutes before proceeding.

Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides into a large bowl, leaving a small layer of sweet potato attached to each skin. I find that the easiest way to do this is to go around the sweet potato, marking a line about 1/4 inch from the skin with a spoon. Then I continue to scoop it out inside the lines. If you accidentally scoop all the way down to the bottom on part of your sweet potato, it’s no big deal. You can mush some sweet potato to cover it up with the back of your spoon. Set the bowl of sweet potato flesh aside.

Turn oven up to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it with cooking spray. (That part is important so your potato skins won’t stick!) Place the empty potato skins on the baking sheet, brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes to get the skins crispier. (The insides of the potato will not get crispy like an Idaho potato would, though.)

In the meantime, prepare the filling. Trim the leeks to include just the white parts. Leeks collect lots of dirt in between the layers, so cut each leek in half lengthwise, and rinse thoroughly. Then drain them and slice thinly.

Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, add the leeks and saute for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic, saute for another minute, then add the cauliflower. Saute, stirring occasionally, until leeks and cauliflower soften, about 7 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.

Mash together the sweet potato flesh and cream cheese. The sweet potato should be soft enough that you can do this with the back of a spoon. Add the leek and cauliflower mixture to the bowl and mix until well combined.

Time to assemble the potato skins! Scoop some of the sweet potato and leek mixture into each skin. Top with about 2 tablespoons of grated Gruyere per skin. Place the skins back on the tray.

Finally, return the skins to the oven and cook at 450 F for 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Serve hot!