Sweet Potato Casserole is a must-have, must-make side dish for many at the holidays. For many people they would be totally happy with a bunch of side dishes for holiday meals. It just isn’t Thanksgiving for most of us without sweet potato casserole! This holiday season, skip the usual marshmallow-topped sweet potato casserole and serve this Savory Sweet Potato Casserole for a change of pace. Adding this savory delight is a fair trade for eliminating those marshmallows.

If you do a ton of cooking on Thanksgiving this is a great recipe to make in advance. If you use canned sweet potatoes or yams you can make this whole thing the night before, pop it into the refrigerator and it’s ready to bake the next day. If you want to prep this a few days or more in advance, you can freeze it (just make sure you wrap it really well.) Put into the refrigerator overnight to thaw and proceed with the cooking instructions below.

Ingredients

• 5 pounds sweet potatoes (5 to 6 large potatoes)
• 1 large (1 1⁄2 oz.) shallot, grated (1 1⁄2 Tbsp.)
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted, divided
• 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1 1/4 teaspoons black pepper, divided
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely ground day-old sourdough breadcrumbs (2 1⁄2 oz.)
• 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded (about 1⁄2 cup)
• 1 teaspoon Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place potatoes on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until very tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 1⁄2 hours. Cool 30 minutes. Peel and discard potato skins.
2. Stir together potatoes, shallot, milk, eggs, sage, nutmeg, 1⁄2 cup of the melted butter, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and 1 teaspoon of the pepper with a fork until mostly smooth. Pour mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
3. Combine pecans, breadcrumbs, cheese, and remaining 1⁄2 cup butter, 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, and 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper in a medium bowl. Sprinkle pecan mixture in an even layer over potato mixture.
4. Bake, uncovered, at 350°F until topping is golden brown, 28 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley.