Sweet potato and ground beef casserole with salsa

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 sweet potatoes, approx. 400 g each
• 1 bunch of spring onions
• 250 g cherry tomatoes
• 600 g minced beef
• 100 g Cheddar cheese
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp black pepper from the mill
• ½ tsp smoked paprika powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp chili powder (ancho chili)
• ½ tsp chili powder (pasilla chili)
• 1 pinch(s) of chili powder (chipotle chili)
• 2 pinches of oregano, dried, crushed with your fingers
• 1 garlic clove(s)
• 1 onion(s)
• 1 chili pepper(s), fresh, e.g. Jalapeño or Habanero pepper
• 4 m.-large tomato(s) without stem
• 4 cl lime juice, freshly squeezed
• salt and pepper
• oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 45 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 5 minutes

Preheat the oven to 200°C (top/bottom heat) and place a baking sheet lined with parchment paper under the oven rack. Timing: Allow 1 hour 50 seconds for serving. Wash the sweet potatoes, pierce the skins a few times, and cook on the oven rack for 75 minutes until tender. Turn after about 40 minutes. For the salsa, heat a non-stick pan without fat. Wash the tomatoes and chili and fry them on all sides in the pan with the peeled garlic. Halve the onion and carefully fry the cut side. Then remove the stem and seeds from the chili and roughly puree it in a blender with the garlic and the stemmed tomatoes. Add the lime juice. Peel the onion and carefully dice it. Reserve about 100 ml of the tomato and chili mixture, mix the rest with the onion, and season with salt and pepper. Mix the spices for the seasoning. You can also use a store-bought chili mix. Halve the cherry tomatoes and clean the spring onions, then slice into rings about 2 mm wide. Grate the cheddar or chop into small pieces. About 30 minutes before serving, remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and let them cool slightly. In the meantime, fry the ground beef until crumbly and season generously with the seasoning. Stir in the cherry tomatoes, spring onions, and the rest of the tomato and chili mixture. Lightly oil a baking dish. Carefully remove the skin from the sweet potatoes and roughly break up the potato pieces in the baking dish to cover the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with salt. Spread the ground beef mixture on top and sprinkle with the cheddar. Melt the cheese in the oven for about 15 minutes. Serve with the salsa. Serve with nacho chips or a raw vegetable platter with corn, radishes, avocado, and bell peppers. If you like, you can also add corn and avocado to the minced meat mixture and bake it on top; personally, I think it tastes better cold as a side dish.