Spicy oven-baked sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a favorite in my household and I make them at every opportunity. In the winter I usually prefer the mashed version, but during barbecue season these here are great as a side-dish. They are extremely easy to make and are perfect to accompany all kinds of meat dishes. Although, truth be told, I am perfectly happy having just these, some grilled vegetables and a nice fresh yoghurt dip.

Ingredients (for 2):

1-2 sweet potatoes (I used 2 medium-sized ones)
1 red chili
coarse sea salt, black pepper
olive oil
chili powder (optional)
maple syrup (optional)

Preparation: 

1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into longish stripes. Finely slice the red chili. Mix both with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a generous amount of sea salt, and some back pepper. In case you prefer your potatoes on the spicy side, add half a teaspoon of chili powder. 

2. Cover a baking tray with some baking paper and evenly spread the potatoes on top. Place in the preheated oven (180°C, fan-assisted) for about 20mins. 

3. Now you have two options: you can either just leave the potatoes in for another 10 minutes at the same heat. Alternatively, you can drizzle the potatoes with some maple syrup (1 tablespoon is plenty, otherwise it will be way too sweet) and place the tray under the grill for about 5 mins. Watch this carefully, it will burn quickly. 

Just to make sure that there are no misunderstandings...these aren't going to be crispy! They contain less starch than normal white potatoes, so unless you fry them (recipe to follow), they are going to remain soft where they are thickest, turning crisp only on the thinner ends.