Sweet Potato Sofrito

For me the creativity in cooking is seeing something that looks like a good base and adapting the recipe to suit both my tastes and to round out a meal I had in mind.  For Friday night dinner, I like to do something nice but I also have less time than I do on the weekends.  So I frequently cook fish and it also helps us balance our diets with the meat we eat.  So this past Friday night, I made Parmesan encrusted flounder fillets and accompanied it with sweet potato sofrito served in peppers.

I could not remember where I saw this recipe but I just remember I saw it on a Bobby Flay throw-down.  So I saw the chef sauteed celery, onions and jalapenos as a base I am calling a sofrito.  I decided to mix this with sweet potatoes.  The result was wonderful.  Good, dumb luck I guess.

Recipe
Sweet Potato Sofrito:

1. In a saute pan, add 2 tbsp olive oil and add 4 diced celery stalks; 2 minutes later add 1 diced onion and finish by adding 1 diced jalapeno seeds removed and cook until softened – about 5 minutes; flavor with 1 tsp each salt, pepper and smoked paprika 
2. In a pot of boiling water, add 3 roughly chopped peeled sweet potatoes and cook until soft – about 10 minutes
3. Drain the sweet potatoes; dice again to a very small dice and add to the sofrito
4. Add 3 tbsp brown sugar and cook for a few more minutes enabling the flavors to meld together
5. Slice lengthwise 2 peppers, drizzle with olive oil and place in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes
6. Next, add the sweet potato mixture to each pepper half, cover with shredded Havarti cheese and bake for 2 – 3 minutes.