Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Sweet Potato Gnocchi Sara Siebrecht Total Time: 2 hours Servings: 4 1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Wash the sweet potatoes and prick with a fork all around, 8-12 times.

Wrap sweet potatoes in aluminum foil and place in the oven. Place a baking sheet on the rack below in case the sweet potato juices spill out of the foil. Bake for about an hour, until very tender and a fork meets no resistance. 2. In a large bowl, scoop and mash the insides of the baked sweet potatoes until they are mostly smooth. Add egg, salt, and about 1 cup of flour. Mix with a wooden spoon until no flour remains.

Add up to 1 ¼ cups more flour until mixture forms a ball without being wet and shaggy. 3. On a clean counter or large cutting board, scatter a pinch of flour and turn out sweet potato dough. With a bench scraper or chef’s knife, divide the dough into 8 portions and set 7 portions aside. Roll the remaining portion into a snake, about 18 inches long and ¾ inches in diameter.

Sprinkle with more flour if sections of the dough stick to the counter. 4. With the bench scraper, cut off ½- to ¾-inch sections of dough, yielding about 24 pieces. To make it easier, divide the long snake of dough into quarters, then those quarters into thirds, then thirds

2 medium sweet potatoes 1 egg ½ teaspoon salt 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour plus more for sprinkling Olive oil or butter for frying Fresh sage or basil

Equipment:

Medium mixing bowl Bench scraper Gnocchi board or fork Medium saucepan Medium skillet

into halves. Repeat with remaining portions of dough. 5. In a medium saucepan, boil water on high. Meanwhile, place each cut-piece of dough at the top of the tines of a fork, or a gnocchi board if you have one. Set your bench scraper or the edge of your thumb on top of the dough and gently smush downwards, rolling the pasta off the fork. If it is especially sticky, roll in a little bit of flour. Repeat with all pasta pieces. 6. Once your water is at a rolling boil, gather about a quarter of the crimped gnocchi and dump into the water. Stir right away so the gnocchi do not stick to the pan or each other, then let cook for about 2 minutes; they are done when they float to the top of the water. Use a slotted spoon to remove the floating gnocchi and set aside, drizzling with olive oil so they do not stick. 7. In a medium skillet, melt a few tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Transfer cooked gnocchi to hot butter and fry until golden brown, flipping to brown both sides. Add sage or basil, if using, just before removing from the pan. Serve with a sprinkle of salt and a generous crack of pepper. I started improvising this recipe about a year ago, and it is now on my regular meal rotation. While some of the steps may seem challenging or unfamiliar, all you really need is a good chunk of time to work through them. The sweet potatoes can be baked and cooled ahead of time, and you can stop at step 6 and refrigerate the gnocchi, frying them only when you’re ready to eat them. This is a great introduction to making fresh pasta; enjoy this taste of Italy!