Cooking Classes

10.3.10

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.

15 comments:

  1. un plaisir gustatif qui ne se refuse pas, j'adore ça doit être excellent
    bonne journée

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  2. un petit plaisir gustatif, j'adore ça doit ête excellent
    bonne journée

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  3. I have always wanted to make gnocchi. Maybe one of these days!

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  4. Oh these look good! My husband likes to make fresh ricotta from time to time. I'll have to give these a whirl when we've got some on hand. ;)

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  5. I've seen gnocci made with regular potatoes before; they're sort of a staple hereabouts. Made with sweet potatoes sounds so much better!

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  6. They look absolutely lovely. YUM

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  7. Gnocchi is one of my goals! Love your version.

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  8. My computer's been in the shop for a week... what a great post to come back to... the gnocchi look like sunshine.. I love the colors and the photos are lovely Sarah!

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  9. That's so cool that you took cooking classes in Florence and in Italian! I would love to do that. I like the tip of adding the cheese. I plan to make gnocchi very soon. I even bought a gnocchi board haha. These gnocchi look perfect!

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  10. I have tried making gnocci without success... it is too soft and "doughy". Would you say this is a good recipe to try to start with? They look dreamy!
    :)
    Valerie

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  11. Gnocchi scares me like biscuits do. I'm so afraid that I'll screw it up. The fact that you've used sweet potatoes however, has me really wanting to give this a try!

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  12. I have never made gnocchi!you make it look so easy; I wonder...
    Rita

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  13. I also found these to be very sticky and soft, but just work with a light touch. Toss in flour before placing on a baking sheet to freeze. The cooked product was really tasty. It really tasted like sweet potatoes.

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  14. Using the ricotta you made from scratch in your past post would make these very tender. I only recently learned to make gnocchi and once they are gone from the freezer I can't wait to make more.

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  15. Actually i didn't understand your language but tried to make your recipe at home. It was awesome recipe. Measurements provided in ingredients
    worked perfect. Thanks for your great post.

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