I’m ashamed to admit it, but I just had poutine for the first time. And, yes, I am Canadian. I’m sorry, Canada. Please don’t take my citizenship. But, I’ve had some now, and it was fantastic.
I had my reasons for waiting, though. The first poutine I had easy access to was sold at my high school cafeteria, and it looked just revolting. Soggy fries, insipid, runny gravy, and very suspicious looking mozzarella cheese. Ick. Also, as someone who doesn’t eat potatoes or meat, the cheese was the only ingredient I was interested in.
So, after avoiding missing out on poutine for ages, on my ride home from work I decided I needed to see what all the fuss was about. But, with sweet potato fries, vegetarian gravy, mozarella, and chévre. Mmm.
And—oh my. I have been missing out. It was divine. Gooey, warm, full of flavour, delightfully salty and cheesy… just… wow. And while I know you’ve probably had poutine before, and you know it’s wonderful, you should really give my recipe a try anyways. Mmm.
Vegetarian Sweet Potato Poutine
1 sweet potato, sliced into fries
Olive oil, as needed, for roasting
Seasoned salt, as needed (I used mine!)2 tbsp butter
All-purpose flour, as needed
¾ cup low-salt vegetable broth, heated
½ tsp soy salt
½ tsp nutritional yeast
½ tsp freshly cracked pepper
½ tsp thyme leaves
Pinch smoked hot paprikaCrumbled chévre
Grated mozzarellaPreheat your oven to 400°F. Toss the sweet potato fingers/fries in olive oil (pomace) (USA / Canada) and seasoned salt and roast for 20 minutes, stirring and turning halfway through.
While the sweet potatoes are roasting, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once it’s melted and browned a bit, whisk in the flour, bit by bit, until you have a burbling paste. Stir, cooking, until the paste is a light brown colour.
Start adding the broth, little by little, stirring as you go. It will thicken a lot immediately, and you’ll have to thin it out until it’s the consistency you like. Season with the soy sauce, nutritional yeast, pepper, thyme, and paprika. Taste. You won’t need salt if your broth is at all salty! Adjust your other flavorings to taste.
Now, to assemble! Place your fries in a bowl, and sprinkle some cheese over top. Drizzle with gravy, top with more cheese and a bit of pepper, and off you go! Yum yum yum.
I’ve never had sweet potato poutine, but I sure will try it now! That is, if you can really call cheese-free poutine “poutine”… I swear though, it really is good with my precious Daiya cheese-style shreds! I’ve also been meaning to make a almond-based chèvre/feta “cheese” that has rave reviews, so I think next time I’ll try your version plus my almond cheese for a classier, less cafeteria-style version. Also, I always hated gravy until I tried vegan/vegetarian gravy, so it’s kind of funny that I like poutine a lot more as a vegan than when I actually ate dairy and some meat… we can both be shameful Canadians 😛
Yay, a partner in my poutine-free crime! I know you love sweet potatoes so you pretty much have to make this 😉 Let me know how it goes with your cheese-esque-bits lol.
Oooh, that sounds delish. Gonna try that one!
Let me know how it goes! Omnomnom.
Your vegetarian version sounds delicious! I might even be able to convince my 8 year old to eat it. Thank you for sharing!
I don’t have kids, but I feel like anything with this much cheese and gravy is a sure thing with an 8-year-old 😛 Let me know how it goes… and hey, at least you’ll get to have it all if your kid doesn’t want to try it 😉
not related, but just saw your tweet about plowing championships…do you remember where?
It was on the drive from Edmonton to Calgary, somewhere around Red Deer (north of it, I believe). Does that mean anything to you?
thanks, I will see what “The Googles” have to say…but that narrows it down a bit.
Well, it turns out I’ll be making that drive again this weekend so if I catch the sign again I’ll be sure to take notes as to where it is 🙂
no worries. it’s in Olds, and has more tractors and fewer horses than I was hoping for ! 🙂
Yup, that sounds about right. That’s where our local agricultural school is. I once saw a competitive tractor pull at the Calgary Stampede. Words cannot begin to describe the, err, excitement, haha.
I actually really enjoy them (and Olds isn’t all that local to Calgary….but I’m albertan…)
As a born & raised Calgarian I don’t have much claim to a rural/farm life (or understanding of one, really). I’m sure there’s a ton of technique involved in tractor pulling that I just can’t see. I only refer to the Olds agricultural school as “local” in the sense that it’s the closest one I know of, similar to how I call the Rockies local even though they’re ~100km away.
I have only JUST learned of poutine this year and am dying to try it! Your recipe sounds amazing! I’m thinking it would make a good weekend, veg out and watch Harry Potter marathons, food. 🙂
Your weekend sounds amazing! Can I come? 😛