2/26/10

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Rucola Cream Sauce


Because of some little angels that I am friends with, and whom happen to admire my spaetzle, I have now acquired a potato rice/ spaetzle press! Accordingly, I have been dreaming of all the lovely european dishes I can now make with the greatest ease with this midaevil looking device... among them, of course, Italian gnocchi!

A potato ricer makes gnocchi-making easier because it keeps the potatoes from getting starchy like they might when mashed by hand. Instead, they stay juicy and fluffy, perfect for fluffy gnocchi pillows. (Or so I thought...)

I've seen gnocchi made before, but never made them myself. I must say, it was a bit complicated in my slightly-bigger-than-a-breadbox kitchen. I mean, its just two ingredients, potatoes and flour, and yet, its very easy to destroy. So, if you want to make them yourself, I would suggest looking elsewhere for a decent step-by-step recipe, because mine was characterized by constant freaking out, sticking dough back in the fridge, and overall paranoia and confusion. All the same, they turned out perfect, fluffy and fantastic, so maybe its not quite as complex as I was making it. :)

At any rate, the cream sauce was less traumatic: I caramelized some onions with some garlic in a large pan. When the gnocchi were formed, boiled, and drained, I added them in, along with maybe 1/2 cup soy creamer, and a couple handfuls of rucola. It was so freaking good, but next time I would take it over the top with a few cranberries or walnuts. Overall though, my testers more than enjoyed my first attempt at the moderately tricky gnocchi. (And I froze the rest to enjoy soon... love that about gnocchi.)


Also, I took The Bad Vegan's idea to use my maple ginger apples over oatmeal. (See, I totally read the comments!) And it was delicious. Thanks for the idea!

More pasta:
Pasta alla Norma
Carrot-Cashew Ginger Pasta

Song of the Day: Beach House- Walk in the Park

10 comments:

Bianca said...

Yum! I love sweet potato gnocchi. Happy Herbivore has a great recipe that I found to be pretty easy to make. It's in one of her e-cookbooks.

The Voracious Vegan said...

Hahaha, I love how you describe your paranoia filled gnocchi making session. That aptly describes many of my adventures in the kitchen. But it looks like the end result was beautiful and VERY tasty!

Mihl said...

Gnocchi, cream sauce, and arugula sounds like a perfect combination. And yay for a potato press! One of my flatmates had one and I miss it.

jessy said...

so awesome on the spaetzle press, T! yay! i have yet to challenge myself with gnocchi, but yours looks awesome and makes me want to give it a whirl. i think i've seen some made with brown rice flour too. the sauce you made sounds wonderful, too. mmmmmmmm! i'm so glad the gnocchi turned out perfectly and that you have some leftovers in the freezer for more awesomeness later. yay!

jd said...

I bought a potato ricer a few months ago, but it's been languishing away in my kitchen due to my own paranoia, so I can definitely relate :)

Lucky you though: it sounds like all of your efforts were worth it, because that sweet potato gnocchi looks absolutely delish!

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

ps. you've made me want to try spatzl. *bad*. :D

ooh, can you show a picture of the press?

dreaminitvegan said...

I'm so jealous that you make gnocchi. It looks really good! I really need to try it because my son only likes the fresh kind and not the packaged kind.

Shaheen said...

I've just made beetroot gnocchi. I look forward to making this recipe too and i'll use my potato rice. A good tip.

austin personal injury lawyer said...

The gnocchi dish looks great. Nice ingredients and sauce. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

Gauri Radha गौरी राधा said...

That looks very good.