Spiralized Sweet Potato and Pancetta, Spinach, with Cashew Sauce

Yes, I know I’m a couple years late getting on the Spilralizer bandwagon. While I love kitchen gadgets (who else do you know who owns two food processors?) I have a storage problem.  Space, the final frontier. But the other day, I was thinking about a recipe for which I wanted to try spiralized zucchini instead of pasta.  I told Sweet Lady Wife and her eyes lit up. Five seconds later I ordered the spiralizer from Amazon.

This recipe is adapted from one created by Lindsay Ostrom on Pinch of Yum. I wanted to offset the slight sweetness of the sweet potatoes with the slight saltiness of some pancetta and it worked perfectly. And since the pancetta is Italian, I figured some oregano should be added for good measure.  It turned out wonderful. Sweet Lady Wife pronounced it a ‘keeper’. Hopefully, with continued use of the spiralizer in new and interesting ways, I’ll lose a little weight, get a little more fit, and will be able to change my theme song.

Spiralized Sweet Potato with Pancetta, Spinach, and Cashew Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cashews
• 3/4 cup water (plus more for soaking)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 sweet potatoes, spiralized
• 2 big handfulls baby spinach leaves
• A few basil leaves, torn
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
• 8oz pancetta

Method:

Cover the cashews with water and let soak for 2-3 hours

Drain and thoroughly rinse the cashews.

Place the cashews, garlic clove, and water in a blender and puree.

Dice the pancetta into a 1/4 inch dice. Place it in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Gently sauté the pancetta, then remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon.

Add the sweet potatoes to the pan.  Toss occasionally.  When the sweet potatoes are just short of reaching your desired level of tenderness, add the spinach and put the pancetta back in the pan. Stir well.  Continue to cook for a couple of minutes until the spinach is wilted.

Remove the pan from the heat.  Add the bail and oregano.  Add about half of the cashew sauce.  (Sweet Lady Wife prefers me to go easy on the sauces so I used a little less.) Toss well to combine and get everything lightly coated.

To serve, put a portion on the plate and drizzle a little more cashew sauce on top.

Serves 4