Gluten free Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Quite the mouthful! A lovely reader requested this recipe - one I have never tried, but since this is a curious kitchen....

Gnocchi (nee-yo-kee), a soft Italian dumpling made of traditionally flour and potato, can be as delicate as a fluffy pillow, or as heavy and dead as its name implies (nocchio, knot of wood). The key is to have as little flour as possible, enough to hold the dough together, otherwise the gnocchi becomes leaden in the mouth. The wonderful thing about these dumplings is they can be dressed as you like, fried in butter, tossed in pesto, coated in your favourite pasta sauce with any variety of vegetables or meats, even broiled like a gratin. They can be a main course or an appetizer for a party; either way, gnocchi are versatile and delicious!

So what of our friends who must stick to gluten-free diets? Are they left out of the party? No way! With increasing understanding of food allergies, there are more products on the market catering to people afflicted with a gluten allergy. Supermarkets carry a wide variety of flour alternatives that do not contain gluten (Bob's Red Mill have a number of products). If you are making these for a 'GF' friend, check if you need to clean your utensils properly to remove any residual gluten (just in case!).

Here is a recipe I gleaned off the internet, adjusted to my specifications. In place of potatoes, are sweet potatoes (not as starchy and more moist than regular potatoes) - adds an additional sweet flavour and hit up of vitamin A etc. And in place of flour are a 'Gluten-free all purpose baking flour' from Bob's Red Mill, and hazelnut meal. To hold the dough together, whole milk ricotta cheese (do not substitute skim milk ricotta).

Helpful tools:
*food processor or blender
*food mill, or potato ricer, or potato masher


Gluten-free Sweet Potato Gnocchi

2 pounds sweet potatoes (about 2 medium-large)

2/3 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free Flour, plus generous amount for the work surface
1/4 cup hazelnut flour/meal (can purchase, or make by processing to a fine powder, whole hazelnuts. See below for pictures)

Makes approximately 100 gnocchi.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Slice sweet potatoes in half. Bake the sweet potatoes until tender and fully cooked, between 40 to 55 minutes depending on size. Cool slightly. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a large bowl.

Handy food mill - a potato masher is just as effective

Finished product - any extras can go straight to baby!

I processed the sweet potatoes through a food mill, which is highly effective for drier potatoes, but perhaps for these, may not have made a difference. Measure out 2 cups of sweet potato puree, and place in large bowl.
Add the ricotta cheese, salt, and pepper and fold in until well mixed.

Blend flours together in a separate bowl. Add the flours, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing gently each time. This dough does not become a solid dough like the regular potato-flour gnocchi, so look for the 'dough' to come together, but still quite wet.

A lone hazelnut on a field of his fallen comrades

Ready to go, mise en place

Folding in the flour - it is becoming 'dough-ier'

After becoming alarmed at how wet this dough was, I took a breath. Should I add more flour to this dough? So instead of likely ruining the batch, I generously floured the work surface before beginning the next step. The outer coating of flour helped the dough from sticking and helped with its shape very well.

Scoop out a handful of dough. On the floured surface, roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces. Re-flour surface in between each scoop.

Roll dough, moving hands from the center out, taking the dough gently with you

Still sticky! Just sprinkle a bit more flour and keep going

If you like, roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork. This dough does not handle it very well, but the ridges formed help to hold sauce, and it just looks cute! I tried a few, but left the rest plain.Transfer the formed gnocchi to a large baking sheet. Continue with the remaining gnocchi.

I left the extras on the tray - pop them in the freezer , bag when solid. Instant supper!

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

Salting the water after it has boiled gives the gnocchi a hit of flavour

Add the gnocchi in 3 batches and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain the gnocchi using a slotted spoon onto a baking sheet. Tent with foil to keep warm and continue with the remaining gnocchi.

From here: you can do any number of methods to finish the gnocchi. I fried these darlings in butter (over medium-low heat) until crispy and browned, turning occasionally (about 5-7 minutes), and tossed with a Parsley-nut pesto. This browning caramelized the sugars in the sweet potato and gave that 'extra' something. The resulting gnocchi went as follows: bite, crispy-sweet-savoury, soft-gentle-light texture, smile.