Bacon-wrapped sweet potato with avocado wedges

Everything’s better wrapped in bacon, and these tasty wedges are no exception. The avocado wedges may sound strange but they are a surprising, smooth yet crunchy treat.

Credit: Smith Street Books

• serves

  4-6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 3 small (about 500 g/1 lb 2 oz) orange sweet potatoes, scrubbed well
• 17 slices rindless streaky bacon, halved lengthways
• olive oil cooking spray
• 3 tbsp plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 large free-range egg, lightly beaten
• 60 g (2 oz/1 cup) panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs
• 3 tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese
• ½ tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp sweet smoked paprika
• 2 firm ripe avocados, cut into 8 wedges each
• salt flakes, to serve

Sriracha mayo

• 150 g (5½ oz) good quality mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce, approximately
• 1 squeeze lime juice, to taste

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F (fan-forced). Line two large baking trays with foil and place a wire rack on top of each.

Cut the sweet potato lengthways into wedges. You should get 6 wedges from each. Wrap each wedge with a bacon slice and place in a single layer over the prepared rack. Spray lightly with olive oil.

Bake for 10 minutes then move to a lower shelf in the oven. Increase the oven temperature to 210°C/410°F (fan-forced). Continue baking, for a further 15 minutes or until the potato is tender and the bacon is crisp.

Meanwhile, set up three shallow bowls in a row. Put the flour in the first bowl and season with salt and pepper. Place the egg into the middle bowl and combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, spices and a little more salt and pepper in the remaining bowl.

Working with one avocado wedge at a time, coat each wedge in the flour, shaking off the excess, followed by the beaten egg. Then roll in the breadcrumb mixture to coat well. Place on the second wire rack. Spray lightly with olive oil. Add to the top shelf of the oven, above the sweet potato, and bake for 13–15 minutes, until lightly browned and crisp.

Meanwhile for the sriracha mayo, combine the mayonnaise, Sriracha and lime juice in a small bowl and set aside until required.

Sprinkle the wedges with salt flakes and serve on a platter with the Sriracha mayo on the side for dipping.

Recipes and images from The Little Bacon Cookbook by Jack Campbell (Smith Street Books, $29.99, hbk).

View our Readable feasts review and more recipes from the book here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.