Baked Sweet Potato with Blue Cheese and Bacon

Heat oven to 425 degrees and position a rack in the lower third. Cut the sweet potato in half lengthwise and place cut-side down onto a small foil-lined sheet pan. Use a fork to deeply pierce each half 5 or 6 times. Place bacon alongside the sweet potato halves.

Bake for 10 to 20 minutes, until bacon is cooked and browned. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate (it will continue to crisp as it cools). Return the sweet potato to the oven and roast for 10 to 15 minutes more, until very soft and lightly caramelized.

Once the bacon is cool, crumble or chop into roughly 1/2-inch pieces and return to the plate, discarding the paper towel. Add the blue cheese, butter, walnuts, garlic powder and several cranks of black pepper to the plate. Finely grate all the zest from the lemon over and use a fork to mash and stir until combined but still chunky. Flatten the mixture a bit, then sprinkle the chives over and gently stir to combine.

When the sweet potato halves are cooked through and tender, transfer to a serving plate, skin-side down. Spread the blue cheese butter over each. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze a little bit of juice over the top. Finish with a dollop of sour cream and chives, if desired, and a bit more freshly ground pepper.