Sweet Potato Biscuits with Sausage Gravy, Crispy Pork Belly, & a Fried Egg

A little known fact... I'm obsessed with sweet potatoes. Sweet potato anything. Especially sweet potato biscuits. I love them more than any other biscuit in the world. I always make sweet potato biscuits for holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. They are just a must in our house. So, for a while, I have been wanting to make sweet potato biscuits & gravy. I made some jumbo sweet potato biscuits this morning, and then stuffed them with some crispy pork belly. If you haven't had pork belly, you're missing out. It's wonderful. But, it's not the easiest thing to find, so I understand if you just want to substitute in some thick cut bacon. Do whatever floats your boat. After you stuff the biscuits, top it with lots of homemade sausage gravy and a beautiful fried egg. And, I love to garnish with fresh chives because it gives it a nice bite and contrast in color. This brunch was so filling that you really can only eat one biscuit, since I make mine soooo big. It's totally worth it though because nothin' is better than a Southern breakfast!! Enjoy :)

Sweet Potato Biscuits with Sausage Gravy, Crispy Pork Belly, & a Fried Egg

For the Sweet Potato Biscuits:

½C Sweet Potato Puree

½C Buttermilk, Shaken

2 ¼C AP Flour

1T Baking Powder

1t Salt & Sugar

¼t Black Pepper & Paprika

Pinch of Nutmeg

1 Stick of Unsalted Butter, Cubed & Chilled

For the Sausage Gravy:

½lb Ground Sausage, Cooked into Crumbles (save the grease)

4T Leftover Sausage Fat

3T AP Flour

2-3C Milk

Pinch of Paprika

Salt & Pepper, To Taste

For the Biscuits & Gravy:

Sweet Potato Biscuits, Baked & Split in Half

Crispy Pork Belly (or you can substitute thick cut bacon)

Prepared Sausage Gravy

Fried Egg

Fresh Minced Chives, For Garnishing

Directions:

1. For the Sweet Potato Biscuits: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the sweet potato puree with the buttermilk until smooth, and then set it aside. In a larger bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and seasonings until incorporated. Place the chilled butter into the flour mixture, and using a pastry cutter, blend in the butter by hand until it resembles pea-sized crumbs. Next, gently stir in the sweet potato-buttermilk mixture until loose and sticky. Pour the dough out onto a floured surface and gently knead until the dough comes together. Roll the dough out until the thickness you want and use a biscuit cutter to cut out individual biscuits (I like my biscuits thick & big, so we only made about 6 biscuits). Spray a small pan with Pam and place the biscuits close together (so they rise up, not out). Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of your biscuits, or until puffed up and lightly golden. Keep biscuits warm until ready to assemble your biscuits & gravy.
2. For the Sausage Gravy: Fry the ground sausage in a hot, deep skillet. Once crispy and crumbled, remove the sausage, but still leaving the fat. Combine the fat with the flour in a skillet, continuously whisking, cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes until a roux is formed. Add the milk slowly to the skillet and mix the roux using a whisk. Turn the heat down to low and continue stirring until he mixture is thickened, 2-3 minutes. Add in salt and a lot of pepper to taste (and any other seasonings you would like to add). If the gravy is too thick for your taste, you can thin it by adding more milk, a tablespoon at a time. Add in the cooked sausage until combined. Keep warm until ready to serve.
3. For the Biscuits & Gravy: Split a baked sweet potato biscuit and place some crispy pork belly (or bacon) in the middle, and top it with the other half of the biscuit. Spoon some of the warm sausage gravy over the top of the biscuits, top with a fried egg, and garnish with minced chives. Enjoy immediately.