Ready-made sweet potato gnocchi?

Really want to try a sweet potato gnocchi as a Thanksgiving side. But I'm seeing in several blogs and recipe sites that it's a nightmare to make from scratch. As it turns out, it's also a nightmare trying to find it ready-made. Tried the pasta place on Harlem and dozens of import sites. Even Amazon sells gnocchi! (But not sweet potato). Help?

Here's an online source: http://www.alfonsogourmetpasta.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1572 It doesn't say SPECIFICALLY that they only sell to commercial customers, but the quantities are pretty large, so you might need to find a few other people fond of it if you order...

It's not a nightmare to make from scratch, but it does take some practice. I can't imagine mail-order gnocchi being any good. I'd say if you have time for a couple of practice runs between now and Tday, go for it. It's fun to make, and very rewarding when you get it right. Otherwise, make something else.

I just made these a few days ago. I took a shortcut and used frozen sweet potato frites from Trader Joes. They were very easy. The trick is to use as little flour as possible in the dough and to mix until just combined so that they cook up fluffy (if that is how you like them). These were served with a brown butter sage sauce. Sorry for the blurry photo.



Bill/SFNM

What is your method for breaking down the potatoes? I've long wanted to try to make my own gnocchi, but I don't have a food mill or a ricer. I've read that you can simply break them down with a fork. Will that work or am I better off buying a mill or ricer?

Best
Michael

Bill,

Those look great. How do you cook and mash the frozen potatoes? My concerns would be that they'd have too much moisture, or that they'd develop too much gluten due to starting out as smaller pieces that have already been processed. I'm sure both are surmountable, and I'm interested in learning your method.

My method is definitely more tedious. I double-bake the sweet potatoes - forst at 375 degrees, in their skin until fully cooked. Then very gingerly remove the flesh, and even more gingerly spread onto a sheet pan, and back in to a 200 degree oven for another 45 minutes, until quite dry. Then they go through a ricer.

Kennyz

eatchicago wrote:What is your method for breaking down the potatoes? I've long wanted to try to make my own gnocchi, but I don't have a food mill or a ricer. I've read that you can simply break them down with a fork. Will that work or am I better off buying a mill or ricer?

Best
Michael

I think a ricer really, really helps. Nothing fancy needed - I got mine for 10 bucks at Target.

I use a ricer, but have a heavy duty one since I have gone through several over the years that just haven't held up. Never tried a fork. Did try the food processor once and they came out very gummy. The frites (which I suspect are parboiled before being frozen) were simply baked in the oven. In the past I have used leftover smoked sweet potatoes. A little olive oil in the dough helps minimize gluten formation.

Bill/SFNM

Bill, Kennyz, tgoddess: Thanks for the greta ideas and suggestions . . . I've got a few options to try during the next few weeks. My guests may yet get their gnocchi . . .

I haven't tried sweet potatoes, but I found that the ricer is crucial for potato gnocchi for two reasons: one, you get an extremely consistent texture, and two, the potatoes are very airy. This allows the flour to be blended in without flattening the mixture - however, I bet you could push your potatoes through a sieve and get the same effect; it's just going to be a lot more elbow grease. I have a very crummy $4 potato ricer that I use for this purpose; if I did it more often it would probably break.

lnasreen, there are a couple of recipes here on the forum that may help you: here and here. I've had good luck with the Argentine ratio in the first thread for regular potatoes.

It really isn't that hard: kind of like making homemade play-dough - I did it with my eight-year-old. I'd do it ahead of time and freeze them on a cookie sheet to cook up on T-Day. The trick is to make your potato, sweet potato or whatever vegetable very, very dry (this is what would concern me with sweet potatoes, I'd halve them and then roast them in the oven) and add as little flour as possible. I agree with Kenny, play with them a bit ahead of time; it's a touchy-feely kind of thing. The one thing I had the most trouble with was getting the shape right - here's what I found works best (others may have other techniques, unfortunately mine was learned by trial and error) You've made your dough into a snake and cut the snake into gnocchi-size chunks. Take a well-floured fork, and mash one chunk until a little dough squirts between the tines (if this is difficult, your dough has too much flour, add potato) Peel the dough off the fork so that it makes a little cylander, and toss into boiling water - eat the first few right away to test for texture, adding flour if they're "slimy."

Mhays,

I have tried the push-through-a-sieve-method, and wasn't nearly as happy with the results as I am when I use a ricer. While you do get the consistent texture, pushing through a sieve, mashing with a fork, using a regular potato masher, processing by machine, and using a food mill all develop too much gluten, creating gnocchi that are denser and chewier than I like. For making gnocchi, there's just no replacement for a ricer.

One other tool I find vital: a bench scraper. With that, I can lift the flour/ potato/ nutmeg/ very-little-bit-of-egg mixture from the bottom of the board and gently toss to combine. Again, the goal is to keep gluten development to a minimum, and I find that other methods of incorporating the ingredients end up working the potato too much. When the ingredients are mostly incorporated, I switch from the scraper to gentle use of fingertips, then very light, brief kneading with my palms.

Gnocchi are some of the more tactile things I make, and it definitely took me a few tries to get the right feel for it. I make it all the time now, and find it extremely therapeutic and rewarding.

Kennyz

Gnocchi are one of the most difficult things to make IMO. You need to make them a couple of times in a low-stress situation. You could wind up with a boiling pot of mush.

Nice job Bill! Your sweet potato gnocchi are absolutely gorgeous. And to the OP, great idea for a Thanksgiving side dish!

teatpuller wrote:Gnocchi are one of the most difficult things to make IMO. You need to make them a couple of times in a low-stress situation. You could wind up with a boiling pot of mush.

Simmer. Simmer. Simmer.

Regards,

Mhays and others-- thanks for the great tips and suggestions. Will give it a go this weekend . . .

In my humble opinion, today's sweet potato gnocchi came out better than any I've ever made, and better than any I've eaten in a restaurant.

Huge Genesis Growers Sweet Potato:

The process started with the huge, beautiful sweet potato above, purchased at the Green City Market from Genesis Growers, baked at 350 degrees for 2 hours.


Flesh Then Returned to 250 degree Oven:

The downfall of many a sweet potato gnocco is gummy, dense texture, which often happens because sweet potatoes have more moisture than regular potatoes. I compensate by drying the already-cooked flesh in the oven at a low temp for about 45 minutes.


Through The Ricer:

As mentioned upthread, there is no replacement for a ricer when maker gnocchi. It is darn near essential.


Formed Into an Oval of Dough:

When People ask for my gnocchi recipe, I have to explain that there isn't one. The proportions change - sometimes substantially - every time. Making gnocchi is a very tactile experience, and eventually you just get the hang of it. Before I rice my potatoes, I have waiting a bowl full of flour, a couple of beaten eggs, and some freshly grated nutmeg. After spreading the riced potatoes on a work surface, I sprinkle some flour over the top and then a little egg. I work it in by tossing lightly with a bench scraper, trying very hard to work it as little as possible. I continue to add flour and egg a little at a time, switching from the bench scraper to my hands, until just barely enough has been added so that I can form the dough.



Rolled Into Snakes:

I cut off pieces of dough and very lightly rolled them on the counter, forming the long ropes above.



Cut and Placed on Floured Wax Paper:

I don't bother with oft-recommended techniques like rolling these off the tines of a fork or gnocchi paddle. To me, the less they're worked the better, so I just cut them with a sharp knife and lift with a scraper onto floured wax paper.



Served with Sage Brown Butter, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Goat Milk Ricotta:

The gnocchi simmered until about a minute beyond the point when they started to float, then were tossed into a pan of butter that had been skimmed and slowly browned with plenty of chopped sage. I served with 2 kinds of cheese, including fantastic goat milk ricotta from Prairie Fruits Farm in Champaign, IL.

Just beautiful, Kenny! I'm going to have to try that. Can you freeze leftovers (you probably didn't have any)?

thaiobsessed wrote:Just beautiful, Kenny! I'm going to have to try that. Can you freeze leftovers (you probably didn't have any)?

Thanks! With some success, I've blanched extra gnocchi and shocked in an ice bath before drying and freezing. They can then be plopped straight from the freezer into boiling water, or thawed then heated directly in a sauce. I say "some success" because I do think the texture suffers ever so slightly.

I have a big sage plant out back. Those gnocchi look like the ideal way to use some of it.

Kennyz wrote:In my humble opinion, today's sweet potato gnocchi came out better than any I've ever made, and better than any I've eaten in a restaurant.

Kenny,

Sweet potato gnocchi look, and I am sure tasted, fantastic. Thanks for the tips, especially don't overwork and dry the cooked sweet potato a bit to prevent gumminess.

Enjoy,
Gary

Thanks for the gorgeous, helpful pictures & info-- looks wonderful. Going to give it another go this season . . .