Peel and cube your sweet potatoes. The final yield should be about 6 cups (but if you have a little over or under, that's fine).
Toss the sweet potato cubes with the olive oil, salt, paprika, black pepper, and cayenne.
On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, roast sweet potatoes in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until tender when pierced with a fork.
Once sweet potatoes are out of the oven, let them cool slightly.
In a mixing bowl, add in the roasted sweet potatoes, plus an additional 2 Tbs of olive oil and an extra 1/2 tsp of salt. Using a hand masher, mash the sweet potatoes until they are the consistency of your liking (I like mine a little chunky!). Taste, and adjust salt levels if desired.
Serve with fresh-cracked black pepper, if you like.
Enjoy!
Notes
For a vegetarian spin on this recipe, add 2 Tbs of melted butter at the end instead of the olive oil, and stir in about 1/4 cup fresh-grated vegetarian parmesan cheese.