Hunker down for six more weeks of winter with cold-weather flavors to warm your kitchen. Chef Justin Shoults offers up his recipe for handmade gnocchi, pairing sweet potato with seasonal spices like sage and nutmeg. Try your hand at this pasta preparation – the Parmesan-dusted results will be well worth it.
Sweet Potato & Sage Gnocchi
Details
Servings: 6-8
Ingredients
- 4 pounds sweet potatoes
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs
- 10-12 sage leaves, sliced thin
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, grated
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour + 1 cup for dusting
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using a fork, poke holes in the sweet potatoes, to allow moisture to escape during roasting. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet and roast for 1 hour or until they are fork tender. Cool slightly and scrape out the flesh into a bowl and mash.
- Place the mashed sweet potato into a heavy bottom sauce pot and cook on low for about 30 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. This will evaporate some moisture and thicken the mash.
- Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the thickened purée and place into a bowl. Cool slightly then add the egg yolks, Parmesan, bread crumbs, sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix together well.
- Gently fold in the flour to prevent too much gluten development. Fold together dough and dust with more flour on the outside to prevent sticking to the table. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
- Using a dough cutter, separate the dough into four even size balls. Roll the balls into 1-inch logs. Cut the logs into 1-inch size dumplings and keep well dusted. Place the dumplings onto a small baking sheet.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season the water with salt. Cook the gnocchi in simmering water for 3-5 minutes. (If you pull one out and squeeze it, it should bounce back slightly. If it flattens then they are not quite done.) Pull the gnocchi out of the water and lay out onto baking
- To finish, brown some butter in a sauté pan. Place the gnocchi in the butter and cook on medium heat until browned and crispy.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve.
