Sweet potato pasta bake

I made a sweet potato pasta bake the other day. It's a really simple and easy recipe. Plus, if you're lazy and you don't want to have a ton of washing up to do after cooking, this recipe is definitely one you should try!

Things to note: I know it looks like a lot of steps. And I can't really give an estimate on the time for the pasta to cook in the oven since I honestly didn't pay attention at all. Sorry about that... even the amount of ingredients I use are all estimates. I've become so used to just grabbing and throwing it in without wondering how much I actually used. I'll try harder to take some measurements next time!

I generally prefer to recipes with more steps because I hate it when people compile what you're suppose to do into one step to make it seem like there are lesser things for you to do. It always ends up with me forgetting one part of the step. So in the end it's like this is step 1 part a, part b part c... and I miss little steps here and there :( Generally the more steps there are in a recipe, the clearer the process is.

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes
Milk (I used around 1 cup, but just as long as you have enough to cover the pasta)
Thicken cream (I used around 1/3 cup)
Herbs (I used thyme, rosemary and oregano)
Fusilli pasta 
Cheddar cheese
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

• Step 1, preheat you oven. Generally around 180 degrees Celsius will do. 

• Step 2, peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into slices. 

Make sure they're thin enough so you don't wait forever for them to cook. 

• Step 3, place the sweet potatoes in the bowl and pour around a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. 

When I mean a pinch, I really do mean, a BIG pinch like you see on television. I used to place literally a mini pinch of salt and when I saw how everyone was doing in on television programs with a HUGE pinch of salt... I was telling myself how the term is so deceiving -.- 

• Step 4, take your oven proof dish and layer the bottom with sweet potato. Ensure you still have leftovers for the top layer

• Step 5, place the dry uncooked pasta above the potatoes and try to even the layer. 

• Step 6, mix the milk, thick cream and herbs (you can choose the herbs you want). Pour this mixture into the ovenproof dish. 

Ensure that the pasta is completely submerged in the mixture. 

• Step 7, layer the sweet potatoes above the pasta

• Step 8, change the settings of my oven from a forced fan surround for 360 degrees to just allow heat from the bottom. 

This will ensure that the milk will boil and cook the pasta before the sweet potato on the top burns.

• Step 9, when you notice that the pasta has been cooked or is almost at al dente, take out the ovenproof dish and give a good amount of cheddar cheese to cover and layer the top.

 I used vintage cheddar cheese so I just required a thin layer of cheese to give the dish a full flavour.

• Step 10, place the dish back in the oven and for the cheese on the top to cook, place your oven into full force fan surround at 360, or even just the top if you notice that your pasta is getting a little too mush already.

This step is to just melt the cheese above and give it a nice crisp.

• Step 11, Once the cheese has melted, enjoy! :D

I was extra lazy so I ate out from the dish. Since the dish is for myself and it saves up on washing, why not :p Don't get me wrong, I don't hate washing up. I don't mind it. It's just not something I want to do since it's winter I'm pretty sure that no one would like to do something that would make you any colder that what you already feel.

For this recipe if you would like to add in extra cheese such as Parmesan, it could be added together into the milk mixture. You wouldn't have to use salt since the Parmesan would give it a nice salty flavour and the cheddar cheese you use for the top should be mild. For the top layer of cheese you could also use mozzarella.
The reason why I chose cheddar for this recipe is because I love it's nice sharp flavour and it's less expensive and easier to buy compared to the other cheeses.

So if you have sweet potatoes and you have a craving for pasta, try this out!

Hugs for everyone~ I hope you enjoy the meal!