FRIDAY! Not just any Friday, but the beginning of THANKSGIVING! We're taking a full 10 days to adequately celebrate with my family in Oregon (for most of it), and I am so. ready. See you soon, Oregon!
I've been wanting to make sweet potato gnocchi for a while now, as I keep seeing it on pinterest. It seems that every time I see a recipe for sweet potato gnocchi, it's inevitably paired with brown butter sage sauce. Yes, that sounds delicious. But literally everyone is doing it right now. So, halfway through making the gnocchi, I decided to switch it up. The world really does not need another sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter sage sauce recipe on the internet, but it DOES need a sweet potato gnocchi with spinach goat cheese sauce! Not only is this the easiest sauce I have EVER made, but it is really incredibly tasty. Not to mention the hefty amount of spinach you'll get to ingest, all while tasting delicious goat cheese!
You might remember, if you've been a fan since the very very very beginning, I've made gnocchi once before. On the previous incarnation of TKP, the-blog-which-shall-not-be-named, I made some spinach ricotta gnocchi. It was a bit stringy, and I learned my lesson. This time: soft, fluffy, potato-y pillows! OOOH this stuff is good.
The key to good gnocchi is to add as little flour as possible, while still being able to handle it. The more flour, the most dense the gnocchi will be. NOT the goal. I actually kept my dough super-sticky, and floured my hands and work surface liberally so I could handle it. The inside was then still super soft, while just the outside had extra flour for handling. It's a tough balance to get, and I'm still learning... but even if you screw it up, this stuff will taste AMAZING.
As for the sauce, it's really simple. Melt some butter, add some garlic and a few big handfuls of fresh spinach, cook until wilted. Stir in your goat cheese, then blend. PERFECTION. This might be my new go-to pasta sauce (when Derek isn't around. Goat cheese haters gonna hate.).
So, next week while you're (hopefully) enjoying some time off for work, make some gnocchi! It is certainly a project, but well worth it. Get the family involved in the shaping (the only really time-consuming part) and it'll go super quick. The family that cooks together... eats together? Happy weekend!
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Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Spinach Goat Cheese Sauce
- Prep Time: 40 mins
- Cook Time: 50 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 2 pounds sweet potatoes, halved lengthwise
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ⅓ cup finely grated Gruyere
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- salt & pepper
- 3 Tbsp honey
- 1 ½ to 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 4 cups fresh spinach leaves
- 5 oz goat cheese (chèvre)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Lightly coat a baking sheet with the olive oil, then place the halved sweet potatoes face-down on the sheet.
- Bake for 30 minutes, or until fork-tender. Remove and let cool until you can handle them.
- Remove the skins and pass the sweet potatoes through a potato ricer (or mash with a fork).
- Mix in the gruyere, egg, ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and the honey.
- Add flour, ½ cup at a time, until the dough holds together and is not too sticky.
- On a well floured surface, roll the dough into thin logs and cut into small pieces. Set on a floured baking sheet. If you aren't going to cook all of them immediately, freeze on the sheet now before packaging in an airtight container.
- To cook, bring a salted pot of water to a boil and cook, in batches, for about 5 minutes. Remove and toss with olive oil to keep from sticking to each other.
- To make the sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan. Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds, then add the spinach. Cook until all of the spinach is wilted, then stir in the goat cheese until melted. Remove from the heat, and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
- Serve the hot gnocchi with the hot spinach sauce.
Eileen says
That sauce sounds amazing, especially with sweet & savory gnocchi! NOM. And as I too am the only goat cheese-eater in the house, you knowI get to eat it all myself...