Sweet Potato Gnocchi Recipe Is Dripping In a Garlic Sage Cream Sauce by Terri Kendrick

I made this dish about 20 years ago for two of my girlfriends and while it was a big hit, I didn't tackle it again. When one of those friends mentioned this homemade sweet potato gnocchi recipe recently, it motivated me to hunt up the recipe from Pinchofyum.com and make it for my husband, who wasn’t around to try it two decades ago!

Making homemade gnocchi is a little more labor intensive than buying the ready-made kind, but the challenge of making your own pasta is more fun than daunting (at least to me!). I was eager to start kneading some dough!

While I love regular gnocchi, the sweet potato variety is, as the name implies, a little sweeter, and with the addition of this yummy garlic, sage cream sauce, this dish is absolutely decadent! Add some type of green to the gnocchi, like kale, spinach or broccoli rabe, and you have a meal.

To make this easy homemade gnocchi recipe for dinner you will need a large sweet potato, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt, flour, butter, heavy cream, garlic and fresh sage. Now let's get cooking!

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Cuisine: Italian 
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato (about 1 1/2 cups of flesh)
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese (full-fat)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/4 cup flour (more for dusting)

Sauce

• 8 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 - 6 sage leaves
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Helpful Products

• Cutting Board
• Chef Knife
• Measuring Cups
• Measuring Spoons
• Skillet
• Salt and Pepper
• Rubber Spatula
• Airtight Containers
• Pasta Pot
• Pasta Bowls
• Pepper Grinder

Recipe Notes 

• You can also bake the sweet potato in the oven.

• Add any cooked greens, like steamed broccoli rabe or spinach or pan-fried kale (seen in the photos), when you add the garlic, sage and salt.

• If you need a meat protein, some chicken sausage or maybe some crispy prosciutto would be a delicious addition.

• You can also use about a teaspoon of minced, dried sage instead of sage leaves.

Here’s how to make it:

1. Prick the sweet potato a few times with a fork, wrap in a damp paper towel, and microwave until soft, about 7 minutes. When the sweet potato is soft, let it cool for a few minutes and then cut in half and scoop out the flesh into a mixing bowl.
   
2. Mix the sweet potato with the ricotta, Parmesan and salt until almost completely smooth (a few small lumps are fine). Add the flour slowly, mixing gently with a spoon. At the end, gently knead with your hands to incorporate the last bits of flour, but do not over knead. Form the dough into a loaf shape. (At this stage, you can refrigerate the dough if you don’t want to cook it right away.)
   
3. If you’re ready to cook, transfer the loaf to a clean, floured work surface. Cut the loaf into five or six slices from the short end.
   
4. Roll these slices into long, skinny strings, but not too skinny.
   
5. With a sharp knife, cut the strings into approximately 1-inch pieces to form your gnocchi. Dust with flour.
   
6. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the gnocchi to the boiling water. Cook until the gnocchi rise to the top, about 8 minutes. Gently scoop the gnocchi out with a strainer basket, draining the water off. (If you want to finish this dish later, you can refrigerate or freeze the gnocchi now.) Lay the gnocchi in a single layer, if possible, on a large baking sheet or platter to keep them from sticking together.
   
7. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until bubbling and frothy. Add the gnocchi to the pan in a single layer and cook until lightly browned on both sides. You may have to cook the gnocchi in batches if your pan isn’t large enough.
   
8. Once the gnocchi are browned, add the garlic, sage and salt to the pan, and sauté for another minute or two. Remove from the heat to allow the butter to thicken a bit, about 3 or 4 minutes.
   
9. Add the cream to the pan along with the remaining Parmesan cheese and toss gently to allow the sauce to lightly coat the gnocchi.
   
10. Serve immediately.
    

Nutrition Facts Per Serving

Calories: 573

Total Fat: 35g

Saturated Fat: 21.9g

Cholesterol: 96mg

Sodium: 1344mg

Total Carbohydrate: 47.6g

Dietary Fiber: 2.7g

Total Sugars: 2.3g

Protein: 18.9g

Vitamin D: 4mcg

Calcium: 473mg

Iron: 4mg

Potassium: 414mg

Recipe cooking times, nutritional information and servings are approximate and provided for your convenience. However, 30Seconds is not responsible for the outcome of any recipe, nor may you have the same results because of variations in ingredients, temperatures, altitude, errors, omissions or cooking/baking abilities. This recipe has been analyzed by VeryWellFit. However, any nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and it is up to the individual to ascertain accuracy. To ensure image quality, we may occasionally use stock photography.

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