Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Bite Me Kitchen had this on her blog awhile ago and I have always wanted to try making gnocchi.  When I was in Florence about ten years ago, I took a couple of cooking classes.  They were totally in Italian...eek!  But I was studying Italian at the time so I wasn't totally clueless.  And it is amazing how much you can understand when the food is right in front of you.  My teacher's trick to making good gnocchi was to add parmesan cheese.  You can see that this recipe uses parmesan cheese.  I boiled up a few and just had them with browned butter and yummy!

A couple of hints, do not incorporate any more flour than necessary.  Too much flour will make them heavy and doughy.  Also, work with lots of flour on the counter top.  As you roll the rope you may need a bit more flour so it isn't sticky.  Also, after you have cut the rope into 1" pieces you will want to toss them in flour so there are no sticky.

I made ricotta on yesterday's post and it is so easy.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

1 lb sweet potatoes

½ c fresh ricotta

2 T finely grated parmesan cheese

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

approx. 2 c all purpose

1.    Preheat oven to 375F.  Prick sweet potatoes all over with a fork and wrap in foil.  Place in the oven directly on the rack and bake for 1 hour or until very tender.

2.    When done, remove the foil and let cool to room temperature.  Remove the skin and mash in a bowl with a fork.

3.    Stir in ricotta, nutmeg, parmesan, salt and pepper.

4.    Begin adding the flour, ½ c at a time, gently mixing with a fork or your hands.

5.    Continue adding flour until it becomes a dough that you can roll into ropes.  You still want a soft dough and only incorporate enough flour to make it a touchable dough without adding too much floury weight.

6.    Tear off a piece of dough and roll out into a ½” thick rope on a floured surface.  Use a lot of flour on the counter so you can add more if the dough is too sticky.  Cut the rope into 1” pieces.  Toss them in the flour to coat all the cut ends.  Roll each gnocchi across the back of fork tines.  Set them on a parchment lined baking sheet.

7.    When all of the dough has been made into gnocchi, place them in the freezer until you are ready to use them.  If you are not using them right away, place the frozen gnocchi in a tightly sealed freezer bag.  These can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.

8.    To serve, bring a large pot of salted water to a full boil.  Add gnocchi and cook until they rise to the surface.  When they float, they are done.  Drain and serve with desired sauce.