I’m carrying on with my current pasta / dumpling obsession today with kind of a mix of the two: homemade sweet potato gnocchi. It’s becoming a theme on my blog as of late… hopefully you’re not getting bored of it yet? lol I just have so many ideas cluttering my brain… and I’m trying to get through as many of them as I can. 😛
I’ve been posting a lot of fresh egg pasta related recipes lately and if it’s something you’re interested in, but find a bit too intimidating, I recommend starting with gnocchi instead.
They’re super easy to make. 🙂
Gnocchi are so easy to make, honestly, and they only take a couple of minutes to cook. Essentially it’s just like making mashed potatoes and adding flour to it. Then you roll the dough into strips and cut into little pieces. That’s it, really! You can prep big batches in advance and freeze portions for quick meals too. 🙂
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We had these for lunch with Mediterranean style roasted vegetables and grana padano grated on top. It was so simple, but really delicious.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
1. Sweet potatoes, obvs. For standard gnocchi using normal white potatoes, you can check out my CLASSIC GNOCCHI RECIPE. 🙂
2. An all purpose gluten free flour blend. I used ASDA‘s plain blend in this recipe, but you can use whatever is available to you where you live.
3. Xanthan gum or a similar thickener. This one isn’t 100% necessary, but it does make a big difference in my opinion. If you’re gluten free and don’t already have a pot of this little powder in your cupboard, I highly recommend getting some!
4. Real butter. It adds such a nice flavour and texture.
5. Eggs. But the yolks only. Egg whites tend to have a drying effect so using only yolks is the way to go with gluten free gnocchi in my experience. 🙂
- 280g sweet potato (weight before boiling, peeled)
- 1 egg yolk
- 25g butter
- 175g all purpose gluten free flour blend (I used ASDA)
- + a bit more to shape the gnocchi
- ½ tsp xanthan gum (omit if your flour blend already contains some)
- Pinch of salt (add ¼ tsp if using unsalted butter)
- 1 small green bell pepper
- 1 small red bell pepper
- 4-5 garlic cloves
- 1 red onion
- 2 tomatoes
- Dried oregano (about 2-3 tsp / to taste)
- Smoked paprika (about 1 tsp / to taste)
- Sea salt
- Black pepper
- Red wine vinegar (a drizzle / about 1 Tbsp)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
Directions
PREPARE THE GNOCCHI DOUGH:
- Peel and chop the potatoes into small cubes and boil in lightly salted water until fully cooked and soft.
- Drain and while the potatoes are still hot, add the butter along with a dash of salt and mash until smooth and lump free.
- Then let your mashed potatoes cool down. It’s important not to skip this step as we’re adding the egg yolk next and we don’t want the heat to start cooking them.
- Once cool or lukewarm, add the egg yolk and mix well.
- Then add the flour (and xanthan gum, if needed), little by little, until you have a smooth dough ball. Be careful not to add too much flour. The dough should be easy to handle with your hands and not overly sticky, but still fairly moist. It shouldn’t feel dry at all. (See picture collage above) Note: the flour quantity will vary depending on a few factors such as what flour blend you use and the size of your eggs so you may need to add a bit less or a bit more than me.
SHAPE THE GNOCCHI:
- Lightly flour your work surface and roll a small portion of the dough into a strip.
- Then cut it into small pieces and toss the gnocchi around in a bit of flour to prevent them from sticking to one another.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough.
- At this point, you’re technically done and ready to cook! I usually stop right there to save time, but if you’re a perfectionist and want them shaped perfectly, then create an indentation with your thump in each gnocchi and fold the gnocchi on itself while rolling it on the back of a fork to create a ribbed texture.
HOW TO COOK YOUR SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI:
- Bring a pan of lightly salted water to boil and then add your gnocchi.
- Start your timer and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the gnocchi start to float.
- Drain immediately and serve.
HOW TO STORE/FREEZE UNCOOKED GNOCCHI:
- Toss your uncooked gnocchi in a bit of flour to prevent sticking and place in a ziplock/sealable freezer bag, like in the picture below.
- Place it flat in the freezer, here I’m using the ice cube tray which works so perfectly for this.
- Defrost before cooking.
FOR THE ROASTED MEDITERRANEAN VEGETABLES:
- Slice the bell peppers and red onions, chop the tomatoes into cubes and roughly chop the garlic cloves.
- Add in an oven dish with the olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, paprika, salt and black pepper and mix to evenly coat everything.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven (200C / 392F) until fully cooked and slightly charred.
Hope you enjoy them!
Kimi x
