How to Get the Fibrous Roots Out of Sweet Potato Pie Pulp

Pumpkin and sweet potato pie are equally welcome at the holiday table.

Sweet potato pie is a homely Southern favorite, very similar in flavor and texture to pumpkin pie. It's even easier to make from scratch, given that sweet potatoes require somewhat less preparation than pumpkin does. Where pumpkin requires seeding, roasting, peeling, pureeing and cooking down to a suitably thick consistency, sweet potatoes only need to be baked or boiled whole in their jackets. In some cases there will be some stringy fibers in the pulp, which should be removed before making the pie filling.

Things You'll Need

• Paring knife
• Food mill or potato ricer
• Potato Masher
• Wire-mesh strainer
• Flexible spatula or wooden spoon
• Mixing bowl

Instructions

1. Bake or boil whole sweet potatoes in their skin, until they are soft when pierced with the tip of a paring knife.

2. Peel the sweet potatoes once they are cool enough to handle. If you have a food mill, press them through the mill immediately using the medium disk. If you have a potato ricer, force the sweet potatoes through the ricer.

3. Mash the sweet potatoes, if you do not have a food mill or potato ricer. Force the sweet potato pulp through a wire-mesh strainer, using a flexible spatula or the back of a wooden spoon.

4. Collect the fiber-free pulp in a mixing bowl. Once you have the quantity called for, proceed with your sweet potato pie recipe. Any surplus sweet potato puree can be frozen for another occasion.

Tips & Warnings

• Baking your sweet potatoes gives a better flavor than boiling them, because the sugars caramelize slightly, but either method is acceptable.

References

• Fine Cooking; Sweet Potato Pie; Tasha DeSerio; November 2010
• Fine Cooking; Bourbon Sweet Potato Pie; Karen Barker, et al.; October 2001