Sweet Potato Casserole

This is a great "make-ahead" dish for Thanksgiving (can you guess what I've been doing today??) and was a smash the last time I made it. I'll post the recipe for a single batch, but all of the photos are for a quad batch, given the 30 people that we'll be feeding tomorrow :) In case you're wondering what a twelve-potato casserole looks like... I couldn't even fit it in my largest casserole dish

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 3 large), scrubbed
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten with a fork
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted plus more for the preparing the pan
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar, divided in half
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans

 Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and pierce each one 2 or 3 times with a fork or knife. Bake for 60 minutes or until tender. Set aside to cool.

2. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees F. Scoop the sweet potato out of their skins and into a medium bowl. Discard the skins.

3. Mash the potatoes until mostly smooth but still a little lumpy (I did this part with my hands). Add the eggs, butter, 1/2 of the brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and pepper to taste. Whisk the mixture until smooth.




4. Butter a casserole dish. Pour the sweet potato mixture into the pan and sprinkle the top with the remaining brown sugar and pecans. (For a larger batch, make an additional layer of brown sugar and pecans in the middle of the casserole). Bake for 40 minutes until a bit puffy. Serve immediately.