Sweet Potato Tart With Parmesan And Maple Syrup

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled

10 ounces grated parmesan cheese

Ground black pepper

Maple syrup, to serve

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Trim the sweet potatoes so that they fit into the feed tube of the food processor. It's fine if you need to cut them into chunks for them to fit. Using the processor's thinnest slicing blade, cut all of the sweet potatoes into very thin slices. Alternatively, use a mandoline to slice the sweet potatoes.

Pile the sliced sweet potatoes on the work surface. Place the parmesan in a bowl next to them. Have a grinder of black pepper nearby. Instruct the children to arrange a single layer of sweet potato slices over the bottom of the prepared pan, then sprinkle a small amount of the cheese over them. Finish with a few grinds of pepper.

Now have them repeat this, arranging another layer of sweet potato slices over the cheese, followed by another sprinkling of cheese and pepper. Have them continue until they run out of ingredients. If they run out of cheese before they run out of sweet potatoes, give them more cheese.

When the kids finish assembling the dish, send them away. Give the top of the tart a final sprinkle of cheese and a spritz of cooking spray, then bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned and a knife inserted at the center of the tart passes easily through the layers. Cool for 15 minutes, then drizzle a bit of maple syrup over the tart and slice into squares.

Serves 12.

Nutrition values per serving: 160 calories, 6 g fat (3.5 g saturated; 0 trans), 16 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 10 g sugar, 9 g protein, 20 mg cholesterol, 240 mg sodium.

J.M. Hirsch, Associated Press food editor