I went to the market with my daughter, we were hungry and totally unfocused. She wanted to make a tiramisu, I wanted something salty. Inspiration came from the sweet potatoes. Gnocchi is one of our favorite dishes, I have cooked with my kids since they were very small, and gnocchis are so easy to prepare and so satisfying. As small kids, they used to get their small hands in the food as a game, now they are serious about taking that knowledge forward. In the end, they turned out to be one of the best gnocchi we have ever prepared. This is a 4 portions recipe. (I double the recipe for us)
Time of preparation can vary depending on how much fun you are willing to allow. I prepared the gnocchi with my kids, so I had to allow plenty of time for fun, fights, and egg decoration.
Ingredients:
- 250 g Sweet potatoes
- 1 egg
- 2 cups of flour (more if necessary depending on how moist are the sweet potatoes are)
- Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar
- Nutmeg to taste (a little goes a long way)
- Fresh rosemary
- 2 whole garlic cloves
Preparation:
- Set the oven at 180 degrees C, cut the sweet potatoes in half, lengthwise, sprinkled with a bit of olive oil, salt, sugar, rosemary, set the garlic to the side and roast for 30 min.
- Let them cool completely for a few minutes, peel them, and mash them together with the roasted garlic.
3. Add the egg, nutmeg, and salt and blend well.
4. Add one cup of flour first, and then a bit at a time until you get a soft dough, making sure it is firm, but still a bit moist.
5. Roll the dough in long snakes and cut them in small pieces.
6. At this point you have two options, you can just leave pieces as they are for cooking. Or you can give them a bit of texture that will help the gnocchi hold more sauce in. To give them texture, you just roll them under a fork.
7. Boil water, add some salt and add the pieces into the boing water. I do it in small quantities to avoid them sticking together. Once they come to the surface, they are ready, so remove the floating pieces with a slotted spoon.
8. You can keep placing them on a plate until you are ready to mix them with the sauce. Make sure you stir them softly every time you place new gnocchi, to keep them from sticking together, and dd a touch of olive oil as well.
Sauteed Mushroom
Sautee (250 gr) of brown mushrooms in olive oil, garlic, and rosemary until they are nice and brown.
Assemble the dish
Pour the gnocchi into the frying pan with the mushrooms and sautee them together for a couple of minutes until well blended, add a half cup of the water you cooked the gnocchi in, and blend well. To finish add some fresh parsley, and enjoy.
Editors note:
Allow enough time for preparation, fun… and egg decoration if necessary.
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