How Do I Get into the House with Gno-cchi?

Get it? That was a bad pun brought to you by my dad. Today was another day when a dinner idea just sort of popped into my head out of nowhere, so I went with it. I've never made fresh pasta before, let alone gnocchi, so this was an adventure in and of itself. During most of the cooking process I was convinced it would fail and taste horrible, but thankfully I was wrong.



Sweet potato gnocchi with cashew cream

Gnocchi
Ingredients
- 1/2 sweet potato, baked and peeled
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt


Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Bake sweet potato for 40-50 minutes or until it's tender. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then scoop out the flesh into a bowl.
- Mash sweet potato until it's as creamy as humanly possible. The smoother the better, trust me.
- Add 1/4 cup of oat flour to the mashed sweet potato. Combine with your hands. Add remaining 1/4 cup slowly until mixture is soft and no longer sticky. Don't over-mix.
- Roll the dough into a long finger-width tube shape.
- Cut the tube into 1" pieces, or whatever size you'd prefer.
- Roll the edge of each piece along a fork to form the famous gnocchi ridges.
- Boil finished gnocchi immediately in a large pot for about 3 minutes. Remove 30 seconds after they float to the surface, using a slotted spoon.


I know this sounds kind of intimidating, but it was fairly easy. I was starting to pull hair out of my head when the dough became more crumbly than I thought it should be, but it ended up incorporating well. Next time I think I'll use spelt flour because I think it'll yield a better dough. If you want it gluten-free, I suggest using rice or potato flour as an alternative. I used oat flour because that's all I had on hand (for now...).

Cashew cream

Ingredients
- 1/4 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup hot water
- Sea salt, to taste

Instructions
- Soak cashews in hot water for at least 30 minutes.
- Add cashews + water to blender or food processor and process until mixture is smooth and reaches desired thickness. Pour on finished gnocchi. Easy peasy!


The cashew cream was great. I loved the consistency and the added level of creaminess it gave the dish. The cream combined with the gnocchi made the dish feel much richer and indulgent than it actually is, which is always a bonus.


I plated the gnocchi + cream on warmed baby spinach tossed with a pear balsamic reduction. When the balsamic mixed with the cashew cream and the gnocchi it was simply heaven. The mellowness of the cream cut the sweetness of the sweet potato and balsamic and it all worked really well. I will say that if you want and expect a typical gnocchi, don't make this dish. It tasted wonderful, but it's definitely not traditional. Mangia!