Me and this recipe go waaaay back. I found it in Bon Appetit back in 2005 and have loved it ever since. Prior to seeing this in Bon App I had never even thought about the idea of Sweet Potato Gnocchi but when I read the recipe it sounded oh so right.
Now you’re probably thinking that this a pretty intense project. It’s not that crazy, trust me. I even made this over the course of two weeknights. If you divide the work over two days this is a fairly quick weeknight dinner. The first night I made the dough and the second night I formed the individual gnocchi. The gnocchi forming is the most tedious part but it’s really not that bad. I think it took me about 45 minutes to an hour to get the job done. Totally worth it. PLUS I have a ton of gnocchi leftover which promptly got put into the freezer.
The gnocchi are served in a simple brown butter and sage sauce. The sweetness of the gnocchi combines perfectly with spicy sage and toasted butter. I’m thinking there might be an opportunity to do something with hazelnuts and bacon with this recipe. I can kind of taste it already.
I served this with some steamed broccoli for a light dinner but in the past have served it alongside a protein.
Add this to your to-do list.
Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage
Ingredients
2 1-pound red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), rinsed, patted dry, pierced all over with fork
1 12-ounce container fresh ricotta cheese, drained in sieve 2 hours 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 3/4 cups (about) all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 tablespoons chopped fresh sage plus whole leaves for garnish
Directions
Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place sweet potatoes on plate; microwave on high until tender, about 5 minutes per side. Cut in half and cool. Scrape sweet potato flesh into medium bowl and mash; transfer 3 cups to large bowl. Add ricotta cheese; blend well. Add Parmesan cheese, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and nutmeg; mash to blend. Mix in flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms.
Turn dough out onto floured surface; divide into 6 equal pieces. Rolling between palms and floured work surface, form each piece into 20-inch-long rope (about 1 inch in diameter), sprinkling with flour as needed if sticky. Cut each rope into 20 pieces. Roll each piece over tines of fork to indent. Transfer to baking sheet.
Bring large pot of water to boil; add 2 tablespoons salt and return to boil. Working in batches, boil gnocchi until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer gnocchi to clean rimmed baking sheet. Cool completely. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)
Preheat oven to 300°F. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until butter solids are brown and have toasty aroma, swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes.
Add chopped sage (mixture will bubble up). Turn off heat. Season sage butter generously with salt and pepper.
Transfer half of sage butter to large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add half of gnocchi. Sauté until gnocchi are heated through, about 6 minutes. Empty skillet onto rimmed baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining sage butter and gnocchi.
Divide gnocchi and sauce among shallow bowls. Garnish with sage leaves.
(Bon Appétit | December 2005)
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this looks good
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Michael
I am making a similar recipe tonight as part of thanksgiving dinner! Such a great alternative to the ridiculously candy sweet sweet potato casseroles that some people make. And I have the gnocchi in the freezer ready to go to make it extra easy.
[…] sweet potato gnocchi was a song, a few years back it would’ve been my JAM! I actually blogged about this dish back in 2009 and the recipe dates back to 2005… so it’s been in my brain for a while […]