Grated Sweet Potato Pudding Recipe

Holiday side dishes are often more popular than the turkey or ham; family and guests eagerly await a taste of the heirloom recipes such as cornbread dressing and corn pudding. Everyone loves the traditional sweet potato casserole of their childhood; whether topped with brown sugar and nuts, toasted marshmallows, or buttery corn-flavored cereal flakes, a sweet potato casserole is usually considered a dessert masquerading as a side dish. As hard as it can be to set aside the old favorites, it is always fun to try a new twist on an old recipe. Rather than roasting and peeling the sweet potatoes, when making grated sweet potato pudding with pecans you grate the peeled, raw potatoes on the small holes of a box grater. Stir together eggs, sugar, flour, salt, melted butter and half-and-half, then add the grated potatoes. Pour into your buttered cast-iron skillet, arrange chopped pecans on top, then bake. The sweet potatoes retain some texture as the casserole bakes. If you miss the warm, autumnal spices from your traditional recipes, go ahead and add a dash of cinnamon or nutmeg to the mixture before baking.