Description
This Sweet Potato Gnocchi recipe offers a delightful twist on traditional gnocchi by using naturally sweet and tender sweet potatoes. Baked to perfection, mashed, and combined with flour and egg yolk for binding, these gnocchi are soft, fluffy, and perfect for pan-frying to a crispy golden finish or serving with your favorite pasta sauce. It’s a comforting, homemade Italian dish that makes for an impressive yet simple meal.
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Gnocchi
- 1 kilogram sweet potatoes (try to use ones of similar size to make the weight up)
- 1 egg yolk (optional – leave it out to make the recipe vegan)
- 1.5 teaspoons salt
- 150 grams plain flour
Instructions
- Prepare sweet potatoes: Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Pierce each sweet potato several times with a sharp knife on all sides to allow steam to escape during baking.
- Bake the sweet potatoes: Place the pierced sweet potatoes in the oven and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning halfway through, until a knife slides in easily but they are not mushy.
- Scoop out the insides: When still warm, slice the sweet potatoes down the middle and scoop out the flesh. The skin should peel off easily.
- Rice or mash sweet potatoes: Pass the sweet potato flesh through a potato ricer onto a tray lined with paper towels to absorb excess moisture. If you don’t have a ricer, mash thoroughly and spread thinly on paper towels to cool and dry.
- Cool the sweet potato: Allow the riced or mashed sweet potato to cool completely before proceeding to the dough preparation.
- Mix dough ingredients: Transfer the cooled sweet potato to a mixing bowl. Add the egg yolk (if using) and mix roughly. Then add the salt and flour, mixing gently with a fork to incorporate and keep the dough light and airy.
- Form dough into piping bag: Transfer the dough into a piping bag or a snaplock bag with a 1.5 cm diameter hole cut at the tip. You can refrigerate the dough in this bag if preparing ahead.
- Boil water: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, ready for cooking the gnocchi.
- Pipe gnocchi into boiling water: Hold the piping bag tip just above the boiling water, squeeze the dough continuously, and cut off pieces using sharp scissors to drop gnocchi directly into the water. Each gnocchi piece should be about 2 cm long.
- Cook gnocchi in batches: Work in batches by squeezing and cutting for about 30 seconds, letting gnocchi cook until they float to the top. Once floating, cook an additional 30 seconds for perfect texture.
- Remove cooked gnocchi: Use a slotted spoon or spider strainer to transfer the gnocchi to a tray. Continue with the remaining dough.
- Finish and serve: The gnocchi will be slightly fluffy due to minimal flour use, which is desirable. Serve with your favorite pasta sauce or crisp them up in olive oil in a non-stick pan and finish with crispy sage and brown butter for extra flavor.
Notes
- You can omit the egg yolk to make this recipe vegan.
- Using a potato ricer ensures smooth, fluffy gnocchi texture.
- Do not overcook sweet potatoes during baking or the flesh will become too mushy for forming gnocchi.
- Gnocchi can be prepared ahead and refrigerated in the piping bag.
- For a crispy finish, pan-fry the boiled gnocchi in olive oil and finish with brown butter and sage.
