Sweet potato gnocchi with honey and browned butter

Sweet potato gnocchi with honey and brown butter

Have you ever made gnocchi at home? Although the most traditional are homemade potato gnocchi, these sweet potato gnocchi with honey and brown butter are an absolute delight, and I can assure you they are not at all difficult to make. This is an easy and quick recipe, and very impressive. What’s more, these sweet potato gnocchi are much more colorful and, sautéed with brown butter, sage, and garlic, just as I suggest here, the result is truly delicious.

We should make the most of the fact that we are right in the middle of sweet potato season, as this is when they are at their best. They take center stage freshly roasted and served with chestnuts during All Saints’ Day celebrations. But the sweet potato is an ingredient with lots of possibilities, something it also shares with pumpkin, with which it shares its beautiful color and its high content of beta-carotene and vitamin A, among other nutritional benefits.

Cut into thin slices and fried, or baked potato-style and roasted, with a few flakes of salt on top, they make a wonderful side dish. The roasted flesh is fantastic as part of the batter for cakes, brioches, or fritters, and, of course, also in vegetable soups or, thicker, as a purée to serve with meat. As you can see, you can get a lot out of it in the kitchen, and these sweet potato gnocchi with honey and brown butter are an ideal and delicious example.

Author

Claudia&Julia

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

35 minutes

Servings

4

Category

Starter

Ingredients

• 2 or 3 sweet potatoes
• 1 large potato
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 210 g all-purpose flour
• 30 g pastry flour
• 85 g butter
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 70 g pine nuts
• 1 dessertspoon finely chopped fresh sage
• 85 g honey
• 150 g baby spinach 
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (to taste)

Directions

1. Start by roasting the sweet potatoes and the potato. Heat the oven to 220º C and cut them in half lengthwise. Place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper, flesh side down. Roast for about 30-35 minutes, or until they are tender when pierced with a fork.
2. Once they have cooled and you can handle them without burning yourself, remove the skin from the potato and the sweet potatoes and put the flesh in the bowl of your KitchenAid stand mixer. Attach the flat beater or paddle attachment and mix for a few seconds on speed 2, then increase to speed 6 for half a minute.
3. Now remove the mixing attachment and attach the dough hook. Add the egg yolk and salt, and set the mixer to speed 2.
4. Once it is running, start adding the flour little by little, in several additions (add roughly one quarter of the flour each time). Add one part, and as soon as you see that it has been incorporated, add the next. As soon as you have added all the flour, turn off the mixer.
5. The dough should be a little sticky. If you find that it is very sticky and difficult to handle, add a little more flour before removing it from the  bowl (between 15 and 30 g more).
6. Flour the work surface and, with floured hands, remove the dough from the bowl.
7. Knead it a little by hand until you notice that the dough is easier to handle.
8. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts and roll each part into a rope, about 1.5 cm thick.
9. Cut the ropes into 1.5 cm pieces and mark each piece with a fork or a gnocchi board. Set aside.
10. Bring water to a boil in a large pot or in your Le Creuset cast iron casserole. When the water boils, add the salt, stir a little, and start cooking the gnocchi. Do this in batches and let them boil for about 4-5 minutes. You will know they are ready when you see them rise and float.
11. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and set them aside on a baking tray to cool.
12. Now heat your Le Creuset cast iron Shallow Casserole and add the butter. Let it melt over medium heat and, once melted, lower the heat and cook the butter, stirring from time to time, until you see it take on a  lovely golden-brown color and notice a slightly nutty aroma, about 3 minutes.
13. Raise the heat slightly and add the pine nuts, sage, and chopped garlic. Stir well so they combine with the butter. Keep stirring and let them toast for 1 or 2 minutes.
14. Add the gnocchi to the casserole and stir gently so they are coated with the butter and the aroma of the sage and garlic. Let them cook for 1 minute without covering the casserole.
15. Add the honey, stir gently, and cook for 1 more minute before adding the baby spinach.
16. As soon as you have added the spinach, cover the casserole and sauté it for 1 more minute.
17. Uncover the casserole, stir gently, and turn off the heat.
18. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and, before serving, sprinkle with a few flakes of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
19. Serve with extra grated Parmesan on the side, in case you want more.