Recipes: Sweet Potato Wedges with Home-Made Vegan Crème Fraîche

This yummy recipe makes such a delicious and very easy vegan appetiser!

And it is a good starter to have when your main course is going to be a soup or stew, as it is quite filling. When we ate this at home the other night, I had cooked a spicy carrot and peanut soup to follow. All gluten-free too.

The vegan crème fraîche recipe makes more than is needed here just to drizzle, but it does keep for about a week in the fridge. So either plan to use it in other dishes (it's good to make a red-cabbage coleslaw with, and can be eaten with fruit too), or halve the recipe if your blender can cope with a smaller amount.

Prepare and make the wedges first, then whizz up the crème fraîche while they are baking and give it some time to chill in the fridge.

As you can see from the photograph, I made a simple salad of spinach leaves, beetroot and orange to accompany the wedges.

Sweet Potato Wedges with Home-made Vegan Crème Fraîche

Serves 3-4 people, depending on the size of the potatoes

To make the wedges:

4 medium-to-large sweet potatoes

2 tbsp garam masala spice blend

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit / 200 Celsius / gas mark 6.

2. Put the oil into a roasting tin, and place in the oven to heat and spread slightly.

3. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into wedge shapes by halving lengthways, then quartering, and then cutting into eighths (depending on size of potatoes, you don't want the wedges too thin).

4. Take the roasting pan from the oven, and spread the wedges around on it, coating them in the oil.

5. Sprinkle the wedges with the garam masala and season with sea salt, turning around and making sure they are thoroughly coated.

6. Place in the oven to bake for about 40-50 minutes or until soft. Shake and turn on the tray occasionally.

To make the vegan crème fraîche

3/4 cup plain soy milk

2/3 cup grapeseed oil (use more for a thicker consistency, less for thinner)

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp maple syrup (or try a half tbsp, then add more if you prefer sweeter)

Pinch of Spanish 'pimenton' pepper (or paprika)

1. Put the soy milk and lemon juice in the blender and blitz for about 1 minute.

2. In a steady stream, pour in the oil and also the maple syrup, blending while pouring. You may want to change the amount of oil if you want a thicker or thinner consistency - this amount produces a reasonably thick crème fraîche, but 1 cup would make it quite thick.

3. When you have the desired consistency of crème fraîche, scoop into a dish and leave to chill in the refrigerator.

4. When the wedges are ready to serve, drizzle the crème fraîche over them on a plate, and garnish with the pepper. Yummy!

The crème fraîche is also great for eating with fruit, or mixing into tortilla wraps with hummous, salad veggies and baked sweet potato chunks (or whatever other delicious combo of vegetables or beans you'd like!).