Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Gnocchi is a favorite in our house, and currently I'm in a love, hate relationship with the stuff. It's delicious, it's simple, and it's easy to mess up. There, I said it - it may be easy, but it is also so easy to mess up and there is no repairing this once it has turned out bad.

Sometimes it's the look, sometimes it's the taste, and sometimes, it's just a whole lot of, "I know for a fact, that I did this right. What went wrong?" This can either make you dance with joy or defeat you and you'll have to come back with gloves swinging to make sure you get it next time.

I've failed 3 times, and I've made successful dishes 5 times. These are totally worth it when they do come out correctly and when you can find the time to do them. I recommend spreading it out over a couple of days as it's not overwhelming and a lot to do all at one time.

Ingredients:
makes about 4 servings +

For gnocchi:

4 large sweet potatoes
olive oil
cinnamon
cardamom
brown sugar
flour
foil
salt

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C), while that is preheating take the sweet potatoes and scrub them lightly under warm water. Now, pat dry and take a fork, poke a few holes all around the sweet potato and rub a light layer of olive oil on them. Do not forget this step as it seals them. Though, you could even roast your sweet potatoes instead to also take as much moisture out as possible. Wrap in foil and let cook until soft - about 40-45 minutes.

Once out of the oven, set aside and let cool. You can stop here and resume the next day or continue.

Take cooled sweet potatoes and scoop out of the skin into a large bowl. Season however you wish. I used cinnamon, and cardamom with a touch of brown sugar. Take your foul and add about 2 tablespoons at a time, folding until you get almost like a sticky dough texture. You do not want to over flour so take your time and watch very closely. Take dough and place on floured surface, rolling into a long pieces. I'd advise flouring your hands and rolling them in more flour if they are still too sticky. Take a dough cutter (if you don't have one, just simply use a knife) and cut into about one inch thick pieces. You can take a fork and create creases on the gnocchi to help them better soak up any sauce you may use or you can use a gnocchi board. When using the board, lightly flour your thumb and press the gnocchi onto board, rolling back and forth.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and drop the gnocchi in a few at a time. They will be finished once they float to the top of the water. Take out immediately and let dry, completely. Continue to do this until all of your gnocchi is cooked.

You can now use the gnocchi like this or you can pan sear them in a little brown butter and sage. My husband loves sweet potato gnocchi with chicken, bacon and apples in a brown sage butter sauce. It's delicious and can be dressed up or dressed down. I hope you won your battle against the delicious gnocchi!

Any love hate relationships with any foods you enjoy?