When I first made sweet potato gnocchi, back in April, it was a way to use up the extra sweet potatoes I had purchased at the end of March. This past weekend, I made sweet potato gnocchi to help make a dent in the 25-pound bag of flour I purchased in early May. Funny how the tables turn.
I don't know if I'm even halfway through that flour!
No matter; regardless of whether you have sweet potatoes or flour in excess, homemade gnocchi is simple and worth the effort. Starting with mashed up sweet potato (or winter squash), flour, an egg, and some salt, you'll finish with something beautiful, perfect for waning summer days and still-growing herb gardens.
SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI
Makes 100-plus gnocchi
INGREDIENTS:
2 sweet potatoes, roasted
3 to 4 cups flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
DIRECTIONS:
Mash sweet potatoes with a potato masher or a food processor, then transfer to a large mixing bowl. With a spatula, fold in egg, salt, and flour until ingredients are craggy and nearly mixed together.
Flour a cutting board and transfer ingredients from bowl to the board, then knead for 1 to 5 minutes, adding more flour so the dough doesn't stick to your cutting board, until hom*ogeneous and resembling the consistency of pizza dough. You're looking for a slightly sticky dough that is somewhat elastic and kneadable. If dough is too sticky, add more flour and knead it in.
I like to knead my gnocchi dough until it is fairly stiff — this part is up to you. I prefer a somewhat toothsome gnocchi, but if you want yours to be lighter in texture, knead just until your dough resembles pizza dough. If you like a bit more substance, go to town, and knead until your dough feels nice and tight and holds its shape.
Using a knife or bench scraper, cut segments off your dough ball, then roll into rope about 3/4-inch wide. Then cut into gnocchi. I cut mine pretty roughly, around 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch pieces. (You are welcome to roll your gnocchi on the tines of a fork to create that signature look, but there's no way I would do that 100-plus times, so mine are rustic.)
To cook, boil a pot of salted water, then add gnocchi in batches of 20 to 30, cooking just until they rise to the top, 3 to 4 minutes at most. Drain or remove with a slotted spoon, then fry in butter or olive oil in a pan on the stove top, with medium-high heat, until brown on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes.
You can stop there, but I also browned 1/3 stick of butter with some sage leaves and grated Parmesan to create a sauce to finish the dish. Either way, enjoy!
