The humble sweet potato is a much neglected food in South Africa and it's quite sad, because it adds flavour to many dishes and is also quite superb all on its own.

I love baked sweet potato, peeled open and helped along by just a pinch of salt and a blob of butter. This way it goes particularly well with roast pork.

Another easy and delicious way to do sweet potato is to scrub it clean, slice it into wedges, brush it with olive oil and then to roast it in a fairly hot oven until golden yellow, which is exactly how we will do it in this recipe.

The rich, spicy chorizo sausage is a perfect mate for the sweet potato and fresh baby spinach adds colour and flavour to this dish.

When it comes to sweet potatoes we normally have a choice of the red- or white-skinned versions. For roasting I generally prefer the red version.

To serve four portions you need:

  • 4 small to medium sweet potatoes

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 2-4 chorizo sausages, sliced into thick rounds

  • 150g baby spinach (or rocket leaves)

  • 80g feta cheese crumbled

  • 1 juicy orange, sliced into four wedges

  • Salt and pepper

    • Instructions:

    Scrub potatoes clean and cut into wedges.

    Pre-heat the oven to 200°C

    Brush sweet potato with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, then bake in a roasting tin for about 20 minutes.

    Add the chorizo and bake for a further 12 minutes.

    Remove sweet potatoes and divide onto four warmed serving plates.

    Spoon the pan juices over the sweet potatoes.

    Divide chorizo between the plates.

    Squeeze one wedge of orange juice over each portion.

    Divide the spinach and sprinkle with feta cheese.