Photo by Michael Piazza

My first cooking job was in a restaurant/bar called Leo’s in Providence; Chef Linda Bigelow made the most delicious pecan pie there and she taught me how to make it. I learned most of what I know about fearless cooking and keeping it simple in that kitchen. When I opened Petsi Pies, I used Linda’s pecan pie recipe and added plain mashed sweet potatoes to it; we all thought it was such a brilliant addition, we’ve referred to it as Genius Pie ever since. 

Makes 1 (9-inch) pie, serving 6–8

1 disc of Aunt Rosie’s pie dough
2 sweet potatoes

PECAN TOPPING:
½ cup light brown sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
¼ cup butter
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cups coarsely chopped pecans 

Roll out 1 disc of dough into a 9-inch pie plate, trim and crimp edges. Refrigerate.

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Roast sweet potatoes for 1 hour, or until fork tender. When they are cool enough, peel and mash them. Measure out 1½ cups and use the remainder for another recipe.

Make pecan topping: Heat together the sugar, corn syrup and butter until the sugar is dissolved. Stir it regularly to keep it from clumping together. Set aside to cool. When the mixture is cool, whisk in the eggs, vanilla and cinnamon. Stir in pecans.

To assemble: Spoon the mashed sweet potato into the unbaked pie shell, spread it evenly and pour pecan topping over the top.

Bake for 60 to 70 minutes until set and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove pie to rack to cool before serving. 

This recipe appeared in the Fall/Holiday 2020 issue as part of a larger story on Sweet and Savory Pies.