For 8 people
- 4 sweet potatoes
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tub (500 g) ricotta cheese
- 6 cups flour plus more if needed
- Bake whole potatoes in oven at 350 until they are soft, about 1 hour. Remove from heat and let cool.
- When potatoes are cool enough to handle, grate or pass through a ricer. Add egg, ricotta cheese, salt and 5 cups of flour. Knead and keep adding flour slowly until your reach desired consistency.
- Cut into small balls about the size of the palm of your hand. Roll out into a cylinder and then cut each tube into squares about 2cm long. Pass each ball over the inside of a fork using your index finger or thumb.
- Cook by dropping in salted boiling water and waiting a few minutes until they rise back to the top again. (About 2-3 min).
A few notes:
Gnocchi are a trial and error process. Basically, to get the right consistency, keep kneading dough until the dough is not sticky to the touch and can roll out well. Add flour a bit at a time near the end because too much flour will make the dough difficult to work with.
The kneading process will take a while but I let my kitchen aid do the work at first, using the kneading hook on a low setting with about 5 cups of flour and then finish it by kneading it by hand. I always add the flour slowly.
The fork process of making gnocchi is tradition but it’s also to make groves in the pasta so the sauce will stick well. Because of its distinct taste, these sweet potato gnocchi will be served with a maple butter thyme sauce (recipe to come). Anything else will overpower it.
Gnocchi need to be boiled in an abundance of water. Choose the largest pot you own.