Sunday, November 20, 2011

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Parmesian Cheeese

So my mama and I got into Market Day!  Apparently they had some cancellations and we were next on the waiting list!
However, that means our little start-up business is balls to the walls right now making felt VW vans and wine bags. 
Props to my mama who has made an INSANE amount of bags.  I just sit on my bed cutting out tiny peace signs and conceptualizing felt bonfires and toasted marshmallows... 


I was so excited to make that Cajun Chicken Pasta into lasagna this week... And while it's good enough, "good enough" isn't good enough for this blog.  So it sits in pieces in my freezer and makes a good enough bring-to-work dinner. 

I'm not always pleased when I go off recipe, and this was one of those times. 

Today, however, I made the NEW GREATEST THING I'VE EVER MADE.  Step aside Cajun Chicken Pasta.  There's a new sheriff in town. 

Today I made Iowa Girl Eat's Sweet Potato Gnocchi.

It was EASY.  I just took 2 smallish sweet potatoes, peeled and cut them up, boiled them till tender and then mashed em up. 
I measured about 1/2 lb of sweet potato, so I mixed up 1/2 of an egg (That happens a lot when I'm cooking for 1; I just wisk it up and eyeball 1/2).  Put the egg in, a pinch of salt and a few shakes of cinnamon.  (this made the dish).  Then I slowly added flour till I could kneed it. 
I'd say a little less than 1 cup. 
The dough is REALLY tender, but that makes a fluffy gnocchi, so try to work with it. 
I divided it into 4 chunks and rolled them into ropes.  I cut the ropes and popped them into some boiling water.

I did it in batches... I was only going to eat 1/2 of them and freeze the rest... Yeah right. 
After they started to float, I gave them another 3-5 minutes of boiling and threw them in a hot pan of olive oil and a little bit of brown butter. 
The butter will burn really easily, so keep an eye on it.  The olive oil raises the burn temp so you can get the pan hotter without burning the heck out of that butter. 
I used too much oil/butter in the first batch, so I would vary it.  You can always add more if you want. 

Keep in mind that if the gnocchi is wet, the oil will splatter, so keep an eye on that. 
Once it was browned and crispy on both sides, I took it out and sprinkled a bit of parm on it.  That cuts the sweetness of the potato and cinnamon. 



Anyway, I LOVED this, and almost ate it all before I could get it out of the pan for a photo op!

http://iowagirleats.com/2010/03/18/how-to-make-gnocchi-gnocchi-recipe/

4 comments:

  1. SO glad you enjoyed the gnoochi! Your pictures are making me hungry!!

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  2. I am not a sweet potato fan most of the time but thismakes me want to try it!

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  3. @IGE- haha, my photography skills have much to be desired...

    @Nanc- These taste more like moist cinnamon pancakes than sweet potatoes... Then again, I eat sweet potatoes by the pound.

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  4. i'm a serious wimp. i should totally try making some gnocchi, but they intimidate me.

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