Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Traditionally gnocchi is made with potatoes, flour, olive oil, egg and salt. The original recipe is perfect, however those hundreds of thousands of people unfortunate enough to have a gluten intolerance or a severe nightshade allergy will never get to enjoy these soft, heavenly dumplings. That was what inspired me to make this dish.
A word of warning when cooking the gnocchi, these tend to fall apart if boiled for too long. That is a result of removing the starchy potatoes and gluten. The corn starch helps to keep them together but is not quite as good as the gluten. I usually pan fry them when cooking and forgo the boiling all together, it is not necessary as long as you cook them all the way through. If you still want to boil them, you should pan fry them first for a few minutes to get a nice crust on them then boil them for 60 seconds or less (until they rise to the surface of the water). This will ensure that they do not disintegrate while boiling.

Makes: 2-4 servings

Preparation time: 40m
Cooking time: 40m
Total time: 1h5m

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound sweet potatoes (1 medium sized potato)
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine salt (e.g. table salt)

Equipment: saucepan, large bowl, sauté pan

Instructions:

  1. Peel and chop the sweet potato into 2” chunks. Place the chunks in a saucepan, cover with water and bring it to boil. Boil the potato for 20 minutes until soft enough to stick a fork into one and have it slide off.
  2. Meanwhile mix the coconut flour, egg, salt, and olive oil in a large bowl.
  3. Drain the sweet potatoes and mash them with a fork. Then add them to the bowl with the other ingredients.
  4. Using your hands kneed the mixture into dough.
  5. Sprinkle the cornstarch onto the dough and mix it in with your hand.
  6. Using a 1/2 tsp to measure, form the dough into small balls with your hands. Using a measuring spoon helps to make sure the balls that are roughly the same size. You can make the gnocchi bigger if you want but I find the small size is great for these.
  7. After you have formed a bunch of gnocchi, preheat a sauté pan over medium high and spray the pan with non-stick spray or use a tiny bit of olive oil to coat the pan. Put the gnocchi in the pan and sauté them for 3-5 minutes until cooked through. Make sure the stir continuously or shake the pan by the handle to keep the balls from burning.
  8. Serve with the sauce of your choice, or try them with my INLINE-LINK-START title="Sage Cranberry Sauce" href="../../../recipes/sage-cranberry-sauce" target="_blank">Sage Cranberry Sauce INLINE-LINK-END, a sweet and savory sauce made with fresh sage, coconut oil, cranberries and vegetable stock. If you are using a very liquidy sauce do not let the gnocchi sit in it for too long or they might start to dissolve. It is best to serve the gnocchi just after pouring the sauce over or serving the sauce separately.