As a child, I used to hate sweet potatoes, I thought it was this gooey oooey vegetable the color of radioactive material that only the craziest of villains would eat. Looking back, the reason why I probably hated eating sweet potatoes was most likely due to the fact that my mom’s method of boiling cubed sweet potatoes to death was quite frankly, not the most appetizing dinner meal to ever exist.
Once I moved out of the house for college, sweet potatoes immediately became one of my favorite things to eat. Chock full of vitamins and fiber, easy to prepare and cheap (read: college student budget), I was pretty much hooked on this root veggie. The first time I made gnocchi was a Wednesday night after I discovered with horror that the only things left in my kitchen were a bag of sweet potatoes, eggs, and flour (in my defense, I had just returned from a weekend visit out of town and hadn’t had the opportunity to grocery shop…). It turned out to be one of the most delicious meals I’ve ever made (probably because I was dying of hunger), but it’s been my go-to gnocchi recipe since then.
Three ingredients, 30 minutes and a pot of bowling water is all you need for these delicious, fluffy and satisfying little pockets of joy. This recipe is actually THE best because you can use sweet potato and pumpkin interchangeably (!!) and if you’re in a time crunch, you can use canned sweet potatoes or canned pumpkin and end up with the same delicious result!
PUMPKIN or SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/4 cup pumpkin or sweet potato puree (fresh or canned both work)
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- A pinch of cayenne
- A pinch of pepper
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
DIRECTIONS
- Place pumpkin or sweet potato puree in a large mixing bowl, add egg and mix until egg is incorporated and mixture is smooth.
- Add in salt, garlic powder, cayenne and pepper, mix well.
- Add flour 1/2 cup at a time into pumpkin/sweet potato mixture until a sticky dough has formed (at this point, you should be able to touch it and only have a little bit stick to your fingers).
- Place dough onto a floured surface and dust top of dough with more flour until the entire outside of the dough is no longer sticky.
- Divide dough out into portions and roll into long ropes about 1 inch in diameter taking care to keep exterior of dough always covered in flour.
- Use either a knife of a bench scraper to cut dough into 1 inch pieces (if you would like traditional gnocchi, take a fork and gently press indentations into dough pieces).
- Once pot of water is boiling, add in gnocchi pieces and cook until they float to the surface (about 5 minutes or so).
- Remove gnocchi pieces once cooled and toss in some oil to prevent sticking.
* *At this point, you can either devour them (which is what I usually do), or take the time to crisp them on the pan which truly brings it to the next level of cooking. In the photos I’ve included, I’ve simply sauteed the gnocchi with garlic, mushrooms and spinach, or topped gnocchi with some roasted veggies and shrimp.
Enjoy!
dumplings&donuts 