Easy Homemade Sweet Potato Gnocchi
I first experienced Gnocchi when I was in Italy way back in the early 2000s. In the land of pizza, pasta, and risotto, gnocchi was what I craved most after my trip. Since that time, I have had the occasional Gnocchi dish at a restaurant. I have even bought packaged gnocchi and attempted to recreate the experience at home. There is no substitution for fresh homemade sweet potato gnocchi, and I am here to show you how easy it is to make. You can also make the accompanying chicken or Brussels sprouts to make this a complete meal. Grab your leftover baked sweet potatoes and let’s make Gnocchi!
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How do You Pronounce Gnocchi?
Before you ever make gnocchi for your friends and family, it is vital that when you present the dish, you know how to pronounce it properly. Gnocchi is pronounced, “Nyow-Kee”. Believe it or not, you are halfway there now because the pronunciation is about as tricky as making Gnocchi.
What Kind of Sauce Goes with Gnocchi?
Gnocchi can be treated a lot like pasta with regard to choosing a sauce. Gnocchi works amazingly with a butter citrus sauce, marinara, alfredo, or even arrabbiata. The key is to find balance in the dish, sweet potato gnocchi pairs well with a spicy and acidic sauce like arrabbiata because the sweetness of the gnocchi strikes a balance.
In the photo at the top of this post, I served this sweet potato gnocchi with chicken, topped with a healthy alfredo alternative, and a side of Brussels sprouts with parmesan. Because the chicken pairs well with the alfredo sauce, the gnocchi comes along for the ride just like a side of pasta.
Gnocchi Can’t Be Easy to Make, Can It?
When you were very young, you learned some of the techniques we will explore when making gnocchi, except you learned them while playing with Playdough. Remember making a Playdough snake? Yep, channel your inner child, because we are about to do that.
What are the Ingredients in Gnocchi?
Gnocchi is a potato-based pasta that includes wheat flour, salt, egg, and potato. You can add a variety of other ingredients to create variations, such as adding garlic or using different types of potatoes.
This sweet potato gnocchi recipe calls for an equal weight of baked sweet potato flesh and all-purpose flour. It also includes a small amount of salt, some garlic, 1 egg, and optional spice nutmeg which pairs very well with this variety of potato. We only include a small amount of salt in the dough because pasta is best seasoned by the water in which we boil it. I prefer to add a few tablespoons of salt to the water which will season the gnocchi more than adequately.
Instructions to Make Gnocchi
Making gnocchi can be broken down into four main phases. Preparing the ingredients, making the dough, forming the gnocchi, and cooking the gnocchi.
Prepare the Ingredients for Sweet Potato Gnocchi
- Bake the sweet potatoes until they are soft but not burned. Cut them in half length-wise and set aside to cool.
- Scrape the insides of the sweet potatoes into a bowl and weigh them. You will want to use approximately the same weight in flour as potatoes.
Make the Dough
- Add Salt, egg, minced garlic, and optional nutmeg to the potatoes and mix thoroughly to combine.
- Begin adding the flour a cup at a time mixing until a sticky dough forms. Dump this dough into a clean and floured work surface and knead by hand continuing to incorporate flour until a dough ball forms that has the consistency of playdough. It should no longer be sticky to your hands or work surface and you should have added approximately equal weights of potato and flour.
Form the Gnocchi
- Divide the dough ball into 4 even pieces and just like in kindergarten, roll these into playdough snakes that are the thickness of your little finger, about half an inch. With a dough knife, cut these playdough snakes into half-inch pieces and toss them with flour so they don’t stick to each other.
- One at a time, press the little dough balls with the tines of a dinner fork, pressing them flat and adding fun texture to them.
Cook the Sweet Potato Gnocchi
- In batches, add the gnocchi to a large pot of boiling salted water. Give them a gentle stir so they don’t stick to the bottom.
- With a slotted spoon, scoop out the gnocchi about 1 minute after they have floated to the surface. Place them aside in a bowl and toss them with a tablespoon of olive oil to coat.
- In batches to not over-crowd the pan, fry freshly cooked gnocchi in a pan until they are toasty and beginning to brown on the outside.
- Serve with chicken and your favorite pasta sauce.
Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes baked (approximately 400g)
- 400 g all-purpose flour about 3 cups
- 1 egg
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cloves garlic pressed or extra fine minced
- ½ tsp nutmeg optional
- 1 tbsp olive oil optional
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- Bake the sweet potatoes until they are soft but not burned. Cut them in half length-wise and set aside to cool.
- Scrape the insides of the sweet potatoes into a bowl and weigh them. You will want to use approximately the same weight in flour as potatoes.
Make the Dough
- Add Salt, egg, minced garlic, and optional nutmeg to the potatoes and mix thoroughly to combine.
- Begin adding the flour a cup at a time mixing until a sticky dough forms. Dump this dough into a clean and floured work surface and knead by hand continuing to incorporate flour until a dough ball forms that has the consistency of playdough. It should no longer be sticky to your hands or work surface and you should have added approximately equal weights potato and flour.
Form the Gnocchi
- Divide the dough ball into 4 even pieces and just like in kindergarten, roll these into playdough snakes that are the thickness of your little finger, about half an inch. With a dough knife, cut these playdough snakes into half-inch pieces and toss them with flour so they don't stick to each other.
- One at a time, press the little dough balls with the tines of a dinner fork, pressing them flat and adding fun texture to them.
Cook the Gnocchi
- In batches, add the gnocchi to a large pot of boiling salted water. Give them a gentle stir so they don't stick to the bottom.
- With a slotted spoon, scoop out the gnocchi about 1 minute after they have floated to the surface. Place them aside in a bowl and toss them with a tablespoon of olive oil to coat.
(Optional) Fry Gnocchi in a Pan
- In batches to not over-crowd the pan, fry freshly cooked gnocchi in a pan until they are toasty and beginning to brown on the outside.
- Serve with chicken and your favorite pasta sauce.
