I do love to cook and Fall is the perfect season to make sweet potato gnocchi. Frankly, I could eat these pillows of goodness any time of the year and so I did! I don't know why I waited so many years to make these from scratch. I just needed the motivation I received after a trip to Italy in 2004. The last day before flying out of Rome, hubby and I literally ran around the Eternal City to take in as much as we could. We ended up on a vibrant (busy and noisy) street just in time for lunch. We chose a sidewalk cafe and I proceeded to order their special which was delicate gnocchi drenched in a blue cheese sauce sprinkled with mushrooms. Molto bene!
Gnocchi is one of the easiest pastas to make from scratch. No rolling with a machine, no fancy tools although I did invest in a gnocchi board to get those nice grooves that sauce sticks to readily.
I could provide the actual recipe, but there isn't one. I put about a cup of roasted sweet potato with one egg into my food processor. Give it a whirl and begin to add flour to get a somewhat stiff batter. I add a bit of salt and pepper and sometimes a pinch a grated nutmeg, stir and refrigerate for a couple of hours. The dough may be quite soft. Turn onto a board dusted with additional flour and cut off a piece of dough, roll into a "fat pencil" shape. Cut your gnocchi into serving pieces. If you have a "gnocchi"board use that but don't let the lack of one deter you from making these. Make "rustic" pieces just by slicing them.
To freeze them for later I put them on a parchment lined sheet pan and place it in the freezer. After they are frozen transfer them to a plastic bag. When you want to cook them drop them into boiling water; they will rise to the top when done. These are good with a brown butter sage sauce or some gorgonzola cheese sprinkled on top! Enjoy!
