Sweet Potato Gnocchi in a Brown Butter Sauce
I saw this recipe on an episode of ‘Everyday Italian’ and was intrigued by how Giada made gnocchi from scratch with such ease. I’ve always wanted to try this - so I looked up the recipe and got to work in my kitchen.
Here is my version of her recipe with a little adjustments to make it even easier.
INGREDIENTS:
For the GNOCCHI
2 lbs. sweet potatoes
2/3 c. ricotta cheese
1 ½ t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
¼ t. freshly ground black pepper
1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour (plus extra for the work surface)
For the BROWN BUTTER SAUCE
½ c. unsalted butter (1 stick)
20 fresh sage leaves
1 t. ground cinnamon
2 T. maple syrup
1 t. salt
½ t. freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Peel and dice the sweet potatoes into even sized cubes (for even cooking) and place in a sauce pan. Cover potatoes with cold water, cover and bring to boil over med-high heat. Once the water is boiling, remove lid and boil until fork tender. Pay attention to this - if you don’t remove the lid in time, you’ll have a HUGE mess to clean up!
Drain and transfer to mixing bowl. Mash the sweet potatoes until smooth and transfer to a measuring cup. Make sure the mashed potatoes measure about 2 cups. Transfer the mashed sweet potatoes back to the large bowl and add ricotta, salt, cinnamon and pepper and blend until thoroughly mixed. Add the flour, ½ cup at a time until a soft dough forms.
Lightly flour a work surface and turn out the dough onto the surface. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls.
Roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope.
Then cut each rope into 1-inch pieces. Roll the pieces over the tines of a fork to get the typical gnocchi indentations.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt well. Add the gnocchi in 3 batches and cool until tender, but firm to the bite (about 5-6 minutes per batch). Drain the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and transfer to a baking sheet or large plate. Tent with foil to keep warm while cooking remaining gnocchi dumplings.
For the sauce - melt the butter in a large sautee pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted add the sage leaves. Continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until the foam reduces and the butter starts to turn brown. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cinnamon, syrup, salt and pepper. Toss the cooked gnocchi in the sauce and serve immediately.
