Spiral Sweet Potato Tart with Whipped Maple Ricotta
A baked spiral sweet potato tart with a layer of whipped maple ricotta: both delicious and beautiful enough to star at your next holiday dinner.
Ever since I made the spiral vegetable tart a few months ago, I’ve been dreaming of a winter version. Sweet potatoes. Butternut squash. Maybe some beets and turnips.
I knew I’d make a winter version – I just didn’t know it would be so soon. But then my husband came home with the most beautiful purple sweet potatoes and purple sweet potatoes require something special.
What’s more special and beautiful than this spiral sweet potato tart with whipped maple ricotta?
I’m so glad I made this earlier in the season than I thought, because let me tell you: this is perfect for Thanksgiving.
Sweet potatoes are such a classic Thanksgiving side. Whether you roast them, mash them, or bake them covered with maple syrup and marshmallows, they seem to be on everyone’s table.
How about replacing your typical sweet potato side with a gorgeous spiral sweet potato tart?
How to Make Spiral Sweet Potato Tart
The hardest part about making this tart is, as you can probably guess, prepping the sweet potatoes. You’ll want to slice them as thinly as possible, which both ensures they will fully cook and bend nicely around the middle of the tart.
The sweet potatoes sit on a layer of whipped maple ricotta. Crazy easy: combine ricotta, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt in a food processor (or blender, or whip on high speed with a the whisk of a mixer) until light and creamy.
The whipped maple ricotta lends just the tiniest hint of sweetness, but this tart definitely isn’t sweet. If you’re used to super sweet sweet potato casseroles, I’d suggest drizzling some maple syrup on top just before serving.
The exposed edges of the sweet potatoes get just a little crispy; the inside edge gets meltingly soft. The two textures make for sweet potato perfection.
Can you Make Spiral Sweet Potato Tart Ahead of Time?
I get it. Thanksgiving (or any entertaining holiday!) is busy and rushed. You want to make everything you can ahead of time.
Unlike the summer version of this tart with sundried tomato pesto, this one does’t hold up as well long term. The ricotta does make the crust a little soggy after a day, so I’d recommend baking this one the day you want to serve it.
However, the majority of the prep work is in slicing the vegetables, which you can certainly do ahead of time. Peel and slice the potatoes, then store them wrapped in plastic wrap with a little squirt of water to prevent them from drying out.
Make your pie crust ahead of time; you can keep the dough in the refrigerator for a few days or freeze it for longer term store.
When you’re ready to make the tart, you just have to blind bake the crust, make the whipped maple ricotta (food processor – so easy!) and start wrapping those veggies. Together, this takes under 30 minutes – totally manageable, even on a busy Thanksgiving morning.
And don’t worry, the leftovers are still good — but a fresh, crispy crust just makes it a little more worthy of company.
What Can I Use Instead of Purple Sweet Potatoes?
Can’t find purple sweet potatoes? Purple sweet potatoes are a little drier than orange, so if you can’t find purple, fret not. You can absolutely make this with all orange potatoes. I even bet it will taste even better since there will be a little more moisture.
Or! Substitute in another starchy vegetable. A sweet potato and rutabega spiral tart! Or how about sweet potato and butternut squash? Anything that can be sliced into long, thin, non-soggy (this is not the place for eggplant) strips will work in this recipe.
While this spiral sweet potato tart is a perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table, don’t think it’s only worthy of a holiday. Dinner parties. Casual gatherings with friends. Or a low key Sunday night dinner, with your spouse and toddler – which is exactly how we enjoyed it.
Beautiful and delicious – a true work of edible art.
Don’t miss the original Spiral Vegetable Tart!
Spiral Sweet Potato Tart with Whipped Maple Ricotta
A baked spiral sweet potato tart with a layer of whipped maple ricotta: both delicious and beautiful enough to star at your next holiday dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 no-fail pie crust (see notes for gluten free alternative)
- 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- pinch of salt
- 1.5 large orange sweet potatoes
- 1.5 large purple sweet potatoes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Prepare a batch of No-Fail Pie Crust (or gluten free or vegan alternatives, depending on dietary preferences). Chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, trim the edges of the sweet potatoes. Slice the vegetables into long, thin slices, using a mandolin, vegetable peeler, or a sharp knife. Cut each slice in half horizontally, resulting in long, skinny slices.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Grease a 9″ tart tan. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface until just a bit bigger than the tart tin. Place the dough into the tin and press into the bottom and sides. Trim any excess overhang. Refrigerate the dough in the tart pan for 15 minutes.
- Line the dough with parchment paper and fill with dry beans or a pie weight. Bake for 15 minutes, until edges are slightly golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- While the crust cools, make the whipped maple ricotta. Combine the ricotta, maple syrup, and salt in a food processor or blender. Process until ricotta is smooth and light.
- Spread the whipped maple ricotta along the bottom of the tart.
- Quickly dip one piece of sweet potato sliced in the olive oil, or bush with oil using a pastry brush. Roll the strip into a tight circle and place in the center of the tart. Dip the next sweet potato in olive oil and roll around the first slice. Continue wrapping the sweet potato slices in concentric circles until the tart is full.
- Brush the top of the spiral sweet potato tart with any remaining olive oil, then sprinkle with cinnamon, salt and pepper.
- Bake at 350 °F for 45 to 50 minutes, until sweet potato are soft. Cool in tart pan for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
Notes
For a gluten free tart, use this recipe for the crust.
A Bunsen Burner Bakery Original Protocol
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Absolutely beautiful!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Gorgeous, beautiful, divine… what can I say? A real show stopper!!!
This looks absolutely beautiful and perfect for entertaining. I can’t wait to make this at my next dinner party.
Beautiful colors and photos. I love sweet potatoes so now you have me wanting to try this 🙂
Yes, we’re big sweet potato fans too! It’s always fun to come up with new ways to enjoy them. 🙂
What a stunning side dish to serve at Thanksgiving! Thank you for inspiring me!
Wow, this looks incredible. I wish I could style food THIS beautiful- 🙂
Thanks, Monica – give it a try; anyone can make this. 🙂
Hi Julie,
This spiral tart looks amazing!
Definitely a crowd-pleaser during dinner parties! 🙂
Amy
Thank you, Amy!
absolutely stunning! What a way to wow them at Thanksgiving!!
Thanks, Jennifer!
That’s a gorgeous tart — I love the way you’ve stood the potato up on it’s side to create that swirl, it’s just beautiful!
Oh wow! The spiraling from those sweet potatoes looks incredible! I love the almost marble color to the purple ones. Such a perfect tart for the winter holidays.
What a stunning dish! I have never seen purple sweet potatoes before, but I love how you have used them here. Your Spiral Sweet Potato Tart with Whipped Maple Ricotta really is a showstopper for Thanksgiving!
Wow. You are really a master at it. What an Artistic way to present the tart. Loved it.
Hey Julie! I’m a scientist, too, so I have to know……if you used a mandolin/v-slicer to slice your taters, which thickness setting did you use? Pondering making this for our gathering of chemists for Turkey Day.
Hi, fellow scientist! My mandolin has 3 settings and I used the thinnest for the sweet potatoes. I was concerned that any thicker it would be a challenge to bend the slices in a circle – but you could probably also slice them thicker and pop the slices in the microwave for 30 seconds or so to loose them up enough to wrap.
Beautiful, Julie! What a showstopper!
Thanks, Carol!
Wow – just stunning! STUNNING! What a fabulous looking pictures! Can’t wait to try this one! Thanks for sharing!
omg the dish looks incredible!
I love the colours! Well impressed with how good this looks!
Wow, this is stunning!!
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I like sweet potatoes but they’re not my absolute favorite veggie, any other veggie that would pair well with this rather then 2 colors of sweet potatoes?
Thanks!
Hi Katherine! You could use any other winter root vegetable (rutabega, parsnip, beets, etc) or butternut squash. Or you can try my summery version – a zucchini, squash, and carrot spiral vegetable tart!
This looks stunning! Can this be made ahead and frozen? I need to make a non-dairy version for a Passover Dinner. I saw your Summer Spiral tart uses a pesto instead of the ricotta cheese. Do you think that a Cashew Sauce would work too? And I was thinking of a ground nut crust. What do you think??
I’ve never tried making it ahead, so I’m not sure how well it will reheat – I suspect the crust will get a little soggy, but that may not bother you! Absolutely yes to a cashew sauce, as long as it’s on the thicker side; anything too liquidy will definitely make the crust soggy. Absolutely to a ground nut crust! One of my favorite desserts is a linzer tart I made with a nut crust for Passover. The recipe is here: https://www.bunsenburnerbakery.com/2015/04/gluten-free-passover-linzer-tart.html — I think the crust would work wonderfully, just leave out the granulated sugar since it’s for a savory tart!
Hi! I’m so excited to make this for Easter at my Mother in law’s. I’m wondering if I can use melted coconut oil instead of olive oil….
Hi Jamie – I’ve never tried it, so I can’t give a definitive answer. You probably cook with coconut oil frequently if you’re asking, though — what happens to vegetables sauteed in coconut oil when they cool? Do they have a slight film on them when the coconut oil cools to room temperature, or do they have the same texture as vegetables cooked in olive oil or butter? There’s no reason why it shouldn’t work, my concern is just if you don’t eat the tart still hot, will the vegetables have a strange texture with the coconut oil on top?
I’ve been wanting to try this ever since I saw recipe when you first posted it–and this year’s Thanksgiving will be my opportunity! Do you think it would also work as a pie, so that each slice is a little bit more substantial? Thank!
Yes, definitely! The only real difference between the tart and the pie is that the tart doesn’t have a “lip” over the edge. It’s harder to cut out of a pie dish (the first slice will probably fall apart) but it will taste the same! Happy Thanksgiving!
My potatoes never quite got done. The crust and ricotta was delicious but the half burnt half raw potatoes weren’t so good to eat but the flavor was good. I dont think I sliced them thin enough or something.
Sorry to hear the potatoes didn’t cook the whole way through, Natalie. They do definitely need to be sliced really thin — another option is to par cook the potatoes first (slice, then boil for 3-4 minutes), cool, and then wrap into the spiral. This should ensure any thicker slices are still fully cooked!
Decided to try this this year and had a few questions. First, my ricotta mixture seems more watery than yours. I used a whole milk and it wasn’t watery until I mixed the syrup. When I started to put the potatoes in, it just went everywhere in between instead of stay a base. Did I not blend it long enough? Second, did you mix the cinnamon in with the ricotta? Could you do that instead of sprinkling it on top? Looking forward to trying this!!