Savory Sweet Potato Pie with Poppy-Seed-Cheddar Crust

This pie was possibly a better idea in theory than in reality (if you can read the title of this post without drooling, something's wrong with you). The crust was great, but to my tastebuds the filling was somewhat bland and disappointing. 

The recipe's from Mollie Katzen's Enchanted Broccoli Forest cookbook.

Details below:

For the crust: 

(15 minutes)

6 Tbs cold butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/2 Cups Flour (up to 1/4 can be whole wheat, I used about 1/4 cup and it worked well)

~4 Tbs cold water, milk, or buttermilk (I used milk)

1/2 Cup grated sharp cheddar

2 Tbsp poppy seeds

1. Use a pastry cutter, two forks, or a food processor to cut together the butter and flour until they make a uniform mixture resembling coarse cornmeal. [I used the food processor, it's very fast and easy.]
2. Stir in the cheese and poppy seeds.
3. While stirring, or as the food processor runs, add the liquid a little at a time, until the dough holds together. The amount can vary according to humidity. [I had to use closer to 6 Tbs]
4. Form the dough into a ball and wrap and chill, or roll out immediately. [I chilled in a freezer overnight, then took it out for a few minutes to thaw, then while it was still cold, rolled it between sheets of plastic wrap, which always works well for me.] Transfer to a 9 or 10-inch pie pan and form a crust. Refrigerate or freeze. [I froze the crust and kept it frozen until ready to bake].

The dough:

In the pan and shaped (note the visible marbling of cheddar and butter):

For the filling: 

(30 minutes filling, 45 minutes baking)

2 lbs sweet potatoes or yams [I used blonde local oregon sweet potatoes, which is why the photos show such pale pie]

1 Tbsp butter (optional)

1/2  tsp cinnamon

3 oranges- peeled, seeded, and cut into small pieces [I thought 3 oranges was a bit much, and would consider cutting this down to 2 if I made this recipe again]

3/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp honey or brown sugar [I used a little of each, and if I did it again would use twice as much].

1/2 cup firm yogurt

(topping ingredients:)

1/2 cup fine bread crumbs [I toasted two slices of wheat bread, then pulsed them in a food processor. This worked well and made about three times the crumbs needed. But, now I have extra crumbs in the freezer.]

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into chunks, and boil or steam until soft. [Do not, as I absent-mindedly did, try to boil or steam without adding water, resulting in a kitchen filled with clouds of smoke and charred sweet potatoes, and an extra half-hour of cooking time spent cursing and carefully shaving charred bits off the tuber pieces.] Drain, transfer to a bowl, and mash.
3. Add remaining (non-topping) ingredients and mix well. Transfer to the crust.
4. Combine the topping ingredients in a small bowl, mix, and sprinkle evenly over the pie. Bake for 45 minutes, turning front-to-back midway through. Cover the topping with foil if it's browning too quickly [as mine did, unless you forget to check, as I did, and then it's best to just pick the burned crumbs off the top]. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Here's the filling, in the crust:

Here's the topped pie, ready to go in the oven:

Here it is, looking somewhat over-browned, after coming out of the oven:

Suzanne suggested that what this pie really needs is something actually savory to give it some excitement. I think roasted garlic would be great, as would some shallots or onions or scallions. Maybe some roasted carrots. I've had good luck in the past with combining sweet potatoes and poblano or pasilla peppers. I'd imagine that even a bit of roasted squash might really add some pizazz too. 

This pie wasn't bad at all, it just lacked excitement. And a pie should never lack excitement.

One more photo, just because: