Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Pesto

This gnocchi made with sweet potato tossed in pesto combines light and pillowy gnocchi with a sage pesto that tastes like fall.

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Servings

Calories 543kcal

Add sage, parsley, pistachios, goat cheese, garlic, and salt to blender or food processor and blend until thoroughly combined. With blender or food processor on, slowly add olive oil until well combined. Add the Parmesan and blend for 10 more seconds until just combined. Set aside.

Poke a few holes in the sweet potato and wrap in damp paper towel. Microwave on high for 7 minutes or until sweet potato is soft. You can also bake in oven at 400°F for 45 minutes.
Remove the skin and mash. Add in the ricotta, salt and Parmesan cheese and mix until combined. Add in flour ½ cup at a time. Mix until just combined and you form a ball. Do not over knead, otherwise it will be tough. The dough should be sticky.
Flour a clean surface and place the dough there. Cut into 4 equal pieces. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll and stretch the dough until it forms a long skinny rope, about 1 inch thick. Cut about 1 inch wide and then transfer to a baking sheet, making sure each gnocchi is covered in flour so they don't stick to each other.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the gnocchi until they float, which should be about 3-4 minutes. Drain and toss with some olive oil so they don't stick.
Heat 2 tablespoon butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the gnocchi and pan-fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. You will have to do this in batches if you can't have gnocchi in single later.
Mix ½ pesto with ¼ cup of goat cheese and toss with gnocchi. Top with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Add just enough flour. Let me be clear. While most times, you need 1 ¼ cups of flour for this recipe, there are times you need slightly more or slightly less. Every sweet potato is different in moisture content which is what controls the amount of flour you use. Use either a wooden spoon or your hands to mix in the flour until just incorporated and where the dough forms a loaf. It should be a soft dough.
Don’t overmix. Just like anything with flour, if your overmix or knead too much, you’ll get a tougher gnocchi. It won’t be soft and pillowy. You want to mix until it just comes together.
Don’t make them perfect. Gnocchi doesn’t have to be perfect shapes or have ridges. Mine never look exactly the same but they taste great! Also you can skip the ridges. It’s time consuming and not worth the effort.
Sprinkle with flour when cutting and transporting. Gnocchi can get sticky if there isn’t flour sprinkled on it. As I’m rolling out the dough to cut and then cut into gnocchi and then transfer to a sheet, I sprinkle with flour to make sure it doesn’t stick. Learn from me as I didn’t do this in the past.
Boil until they float. When cooking the gnocchi, boil it until they float and then remove and add to a sauce.