Sweet Potatoes

My friend Zach recently introduced me to the delicious world of homemade gnocchi… he brought over all of the ingredients to make beet gnocchi and regular potato gnocchi and we celebrated the end of his first year of teaching. (he’s a rock star) Although I loved what we made, the whole time we were cooking (which was a long time since TWO different kinds of gnocchi and a salad for 4 people means that I used nearly every pot in my house, the blender, several cutting boards, and more mixing bowls than you could imagine) I just kept thinking, “well now, wouldn’t this be AMAZING made sweet potatoes?” I mean, what isn’t made better by the south’s very own superfood?

Thankfully, I didn’t have to invent the recipe since other cooks although thought this would be a great combo. I did, however, made a few changes and combine a few different recipes, given what I had on hand and what flavors I wanted.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Rosemary Brown Butter

Serves 4

What you Need:

For the Gnocchi

2 pounds sweet potatoes

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese (1/4 for dough, 1/4 for serving)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/3 cup for the work surface

For the brown butter

1/2 cup salted butter (1 stick)
2 fresh rosemary stalks

What to Do:

Some recipes I looked up tell you to bake the sweet potatoes, but I was a little bit under the gun since I was hosting two friends/coworkers/fave gals for a summertime dinner and only started cooking about 30 minutes before they were to arrive. Since I’d just tested out regular and beet gnocchi, I knew making this stuff was a pretty involved process, and that meant I needed to cut time in whatever way I could. Rather than bake or roast them, I boiled the potatoes instead, which didn’t really sacrifice flavor as far as I could tell. You could do either, depending on the time you’ve got! (in fact, I’d say if you’ve made gnocchi before, this recipe could take about 75 minutes..but if you’re new to this fun culinary experiment, then allot 90-95 minutes or so from beginning to end)

once I’d gotten the potatoes boiling, I put the flour, egg, and seasonings together in the mixing bowl. When the potatoes were ready, I cooled them in an ice bath, pureed them in a food processor, and mixed it all in with the flour mixture.

Once the potato and flour mixture have been fulyl incorporated, and the texture of the dough is smooth and not too wet or sticky, I dumped the dough out onto a floured surface, separated in into about 5 equal sized hunks, and rolled each into a long, thin cylinder about the width of a thumb.

Once that’s done, I boiled a pot of water. Then, I started to cut the dough into small rectangles (about 1″ by 1 1/4″).

To give the gnocchi the little characteristic ridges, use a fork to roll the little pieces of dough… mine honestly never turn out perfectly, but they still taste GREAT. Drop the dough into the boiling water and wait until it pops up to the top..about 1 minute (when it floats, it’s cooked all the way through…if it’s still on the bottom of the pot it may need a minute or so more).

To make the browned butter sauce, take the stick of butter in a sauce pan or skillet and cook over medium high heat, swirling it around the pan a little, and waiting until the bubbles/foam goes down a bit. the butter will start to turn brown, and at that point, drop in the whole rosemary pieces and let simmer for 1 or 2 minutes to infuse the butter with the rosemary flavor. Other recipes call for sage browned butter, or pecan browned butter, or balsamic browned butter… I figure you can’t go wrong with any of them. I chose rosemary because I have a HUGE rosemary plant outside my kitchen door, and I thought the two flavors would mix well together… they DEFINITELY do.

Once every thing is ready, serve the gnocchi with the Parmesan cheese, the browned butter, and a sprig of rosemary and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Shells

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Rosemary Browned Butter

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