A Southern cook creates new traditions in Tempe, like this sausage and sweet potato hash

North Carolina is sweet potato country.

As the number one producer in the United States, more than 40% of the country's sweet potatoes come from North Carolina, where the root vegetables thrive in the warm climate and loamy soil. For one Greensboro transplant who now resides in Tempe, the holidays don't taste like home without them.

Toya Collins, a former professional dancer who now makes bagels for a living, said she didn't really see pumpkin pies until moving to Arizona in 2016. Her family in North Carolina is just "nuts about sweet potatoes," she said. Come Thanksgiving and Christmas, her dad can be found in the kitchen making sweet potato pies, candied yams, casserole and her personal favorite, cheesecake.

More:Are yams and sweet potatoes the same? 5 questions answered

A new home and new traditions

While living in Greensboro, Collins worked as a choreographer and spent years dancing ballet, tap and hip hop. Growing up, she and her younger brother trained together and they used to perform a duet every year. One of her proudest moments was in 2016 when they won a choreography award at the StarLand dance competition in Lexington, North Carolina.

Collins said she moved to Arizona for a change of scenery.

After she started feeling burnt out in dance, Collins decided to try other jobs before landing her gig as a baker at Bagelfeld's, a Phoenix bagel shop. She also started a hobby Instagram page for her home kitchen creations, @tcsyumcity, where the self-described "Southern Foodie" shares her experiments with baked treats like her mini sweet potato cheesecakes.

Her brother, also looking for a change, followed her to Arizona, she said. One day when she found herself some sweet potatoes in her Tempe apartment, she decided to try a new method of cooking the classic Southern ingredient — with a little inspiration from her brother.

Sausage and sweet potato hash combines her brother's favorite breakfast dish — scrambled sausage and eggs — with her family's love for sweet potatoes. She hopes this dish can become a delicious new tradition.

Recipe: Breakfast sausage and sweet potato hash

As told by Toya Collins.

You can saute or roast the potato, but I prefer to roast mine because there's almost a smokiness to the taste and roasting really brings out the sweetness of potatoes. For the sauteed version, you can cook the eggs either at the end in the oven or skip the oven altogether and add them to your stovetop pan.

Makes: 1 large pan or 1 baking sheet

Ingredients:

• 1 sweet potato peeled, chopped and cubed into 1 ½ inch cubes (makes about 2 cups)
• Butter or oil
• ½ tsp fennel seeds
• ¼ tsp chili flakes
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• ⅛ tsp cinnamon
• ⅛ tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• ¼ tsp pepper, plus more to taste
• 10 ounces breakfast sausage
• ¾ cup chopped onion (about 1/2 of a medium onion)
• 1 cup diced green or red peppers
• 4 eggs

Preparation:

Oven-roasted sweet potato hash

1. Preheat oven to 415° F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment. Place sweet potatoes on baking sheet and drizzle with oil and spices. Toss to coat and arrange in a single layer.
2. Bake 30-40 minutes, flipping potatoes halfway through. Potatoes are done when fork-tender and caramelized.
3. Remove potatoes and reduce oven temperature to 350° F.
4. In a large pan or skillet cook the sausage with the fennel seeds and chili flakes on medium-high heat until pink no longer shows and is cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.
5. In the same pan, saute the peppers and onion until soft and translucent, about 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl or plate.
6. Add sausage, onions and peppers to the sheet pan and stir to combine.
7. Make 4 wells in the potato hash mixture. Cracking an egg in each well. Season eggs with a bit of salt and pepper.
8. Bake for 8-14 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs. For yolks that are a bit runny, check after 8 minutes.

Sauteed sweet potato hash

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. In a large ovenproof pan or skillet cook the sausage with the fennel seeds and chili flakes on medium-high heat until pink no longer shows and is cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.
3. In the same pan, saute the peppers and onion until soft and translucent, about 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl or plate.
4. Add sweet potatoes to the pan with about 1 tablespoon of butter or oil. Add smoked paprika, cinnamon, chili powder, salt and pepper and stir to coat. Saute for about 5 minutes. Cover potatoes and continue to cook and soften for another 7-10 minutes. Uncover a couple of times to stir. Potatoes are done when they are soft enough to pierce with a fork and have some caramelization.
5. Add sausage, peppers and onions back to the pan with the potatoes and stir to combine.
6. Make four wells in the mixture. Carefully crack an egg into each well.
7. Place the pan into the oven and cook eggs for about 8-12 minutes or until the yolks have reached your desired texture. Alternatively, you can finish cooking the eggs on the stove. Simply lower the heat to medium-low and cover the pan.

Reach the reporter at Priscilla.Totiya@azcentral.com. Follow @priscillatotiya on Twitter and Instagram.

Subscribe to azcentral.com today to support local journalism.