Buttercup and sweet potato casserole...as you wish

Sweet potatoes…its a simple root vegetable that graces the table every Thanksgiving. Sometimes they are roasted, sometimes they are covered in marshmallow…but they are always there, to basically give us an excuse to eat something that tastes like dessert as a dinner side.

I was tasked with the goal of finding a new sweet potato dish to bring to the table this Testgiving. I turned to the Pioneer Woman for inspiration and left her site with the recipe for her “Soul Sweet ‘Taters”. It was full of butter and sugar and sweet potatoes with a streusel topping …it sounded perfect.

A few days after I had decided what I wanted to make I came into possession of a couple of buttercup squash. I have never been one to process a squash…but after reading up on this particular squash, I had to give it a shot and include it in my casserole. It is a smooth squash, with a sweet earthy taste, similar to a sweet potato, but not as sweet. It seemed that once roasted it would be perfect to substitute half of the sweet potatoes with one of these green striped beauties.

I roasted the Buttercup squash in the morning. Wash the squash really well. Split it in half, cleaning the seeds and the stringy insides. Place the cut side down on a sheet pan and roast in the oven at 350 deg, pouring about a cup of water in the pan to help the cooking process. Roast for about 45 min. to an hour…its done when a fork pierces the skin easily. Use a spoon to scoop the flesh away from the rind, set aside until you are ready to make the dish below.

Pioneer Woman’s Soul Sweet ‘Taters

4 whole Med Sweet Potatoes* (I used 2 Large Sweet Potatoes and 1 Buttercup squash, roasted in the oven)
1 cup Sugar
1 cup Milk
2 whole Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Pecans
1/2 cup Flour
3/4 sticks Butter

Wash 4 medium sweet potatoes and bake them in a 375-degree oven until fork tender, about 30-35 minutes. When they are finished cooking slice them open and scrape out the flesh into a large bowl.

Add 1 cup of (regular granulated) sugar, 1 cup of milk, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of salt. With a potato masher, mash them up just enough—you don’t want it to be perfectly smooth.

Now, in a separate bowl, add 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup pecans, chopped (that means measure a cup of pecans, then chop them), ½ cup flour, and ¾ stick of butter. With a pastry cutter or fork, mash together until thoroughly combined.

Spread the sweet potato mixture into a regular baking dish and sprinkle the crumb mixture all over the top.

Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.