Oh. My. Gosh. This is the epitome of food. Literally I cannot even tell you the love I have for this dish. It is ABSOLUTELY one of my all time favorite recipes, and I could honestly and truly eat it every single day and be happy forever. The gnocchi is tender with a slightly sweet earthiness from the sweet potato, the sauce is rich and savory with a subtle maple flavor and a hint of garlic…it’s just LITERALLY MY OBSESSION FOREVER.
I’ve made homemade gnocchi several times in the past, and I have always loved how easy the process is. It’s nooootthhiinngg like regular homemade pasta, which I have still yet to master (š). There is barely any kneading, it’s not a tough dough that’s hard to work with, and there is no extraction with a machine – you just roll it up into a tube and cut. I’m telling you guys – it’s such an easy thing to make homemade.
And the homemade version versus store bought? There is no comparison. I actually am having a hard time finding words to describe how much I love fresh, homemade gnocchi. I’m talkin’ the type of situation where you make the dough, slice it into gnocchi pieces, boil it right there, and you’re eating it within 10 minutes. That? It’s seriously impossible to beat – I dare you to try.
If you’ve had gnocchi before but never tried sweet potato gnocchi, you’ve gotta try this baby out. The flavor from the sweet potato adds an earthy, very subtly sweet taste to the finished gnocchi, and it ends up being a little more dense, which I love. It’s sooooooo GOOD.
If you are intimidated by the thought of homemade gnocchi, let me ease your mind a little bit and tell you how simple it really is:
- Microwave your sweet potato (that’s right, we fancy…)
- Slice it and let it cool for a bit so it doesn’t cook your egg
- In a large bowl, add your gnocchi, eggs, ricotta, and flour
- Mix together until it has semi-formed a dough (this takes less than 2 minutes)
- Dump it all out on a counter and mix it/knead it with your hands until it’s formed a ball of dough
- Slice this ball into three or four sections and roll each section into a long tube
- Slice into gnocchi pieces
- Boil in salted water (takes less than 5 minutes)
- Add to your sauce
It’s the easiest, fastest, least fussy homemade thing I’ve ever made. And, oh my goodness, it is so worth taking that extra time to make it homemade.
Now let’s talk sauce…this sauce literally MAKES ME EMOTIONAL because it is so delicious. Not really…but we are nearing that point. It’s a mixture of butter, olive oil, thyme, garlic, and a touch of maple syrup. So we’ve got the rich saltiness from the butter, the slight herb flavor from the thyme, a hint of garlic (which, is any dish really complete without??), and a subtle, sweet maple flavor from the syrup.
We get this cooking (with the exception of the syrup) while the gnocchi is boiling, and then we scoop the gnocchi right into the sauce so it can sear on one side, giving it an extra note of flavor, texture, and complexity. Right when we are just about done, we drizzle that thick, luxurious maple syrup over top of the gnocchi and stir to combine, letting it cook for just a little bit. I can’t even tell you how much depth that extra note of sweetness brings to the dish, and it pairs perfectly with the slight sweetness we have from the sweet potato in the gnocchi itself.
But this isn’t a Thanksgiving sweet potato casserole situation where you take sweet potatoes and make them uber sweet by adding brown sugar, marshmallows, etc…The gnocchi here isn’t sweet, and the sauce isn’t sweet, but it just brings so many different layers to the table that make your taste buds get slapped upside the head and think “Whaaaaaaaaa just happen??”
It’s glorious.
SO – I have to give you a sleep training update on Ford since I mentioned that we had started last week and he was champin’ it hard. He had a few days there towards the end of last week where he regressed a little bit, but nothing drastic! His challenge doesn’t seem to be going down for naps and for bed, it seems to be the mid-nap wake ups that he has a little struggle with.
He will often times wake up after like 30 or 45 minutes and then cry for a while before he either goes back to sleep or I go get him.
But – other than that happening every now and then, he sleeps like a little angel! Goes down for naps and bed without a peep, usually sleeps for an hour or an hour and a half (sometimes longer) for naps, and only wakes up at night when he’s hungry and needs to eat.
IT HAS BEEN GLORIOUS. Our quality of life has gone up DRASTICALLY. I have basically 6 extra hours in my day that I didn’t have before, and Ford is extra content and happy in between naps because he’s sleeping better. I. Love. Sleep training.
Well, sleep training itself isn’t very fun, but the results are so awesome.
AND we decorated our house for Christmas and got a tree. So our house not only now contains a well-sleeping-while-not-being-held-and-rocked baby but also a crap ton of Christmas decorations. Yaasssssss, pure happiness!
Must celebrate with bowls and bowls (and bowls) of gnocchi ššš!
Watch how to make this Sweet Potato Gnocchi here!
This recipe is 10 smart points per serving!
PrintSweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Butter Sauce
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato
- 1/2 cup low fat ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons light butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Poke holes all over your sweet potato using a fork and microwave for 8-10 minutes, or until the sweet potato is very tender when pierced with a fork or knife
- Remove from the microwave and let cool to room temperature (this process is made faster by cutting the potato in half, and it’s made even faster [if you’re really impatient like me :)] by scooping the sweet potato out of the skin, placing it on a plate, and putting the plate in the freezer)
- When the sweet potato is cool, scoop all of the potato out of the skin if you haven’t already done so and place in the center of a large bowl. Make a little well in the middle of the potatoes and add your egg
- Add the ricotta on top of the egg and add your flour around the sweet potato
- Using a fork, whisk the sweet potato, egg, and ricotta together, slowly letting the flour mix in too. This kind of ends up happening all at once, so don’t worry about being precise with the “slowly mixing flour in” step
- Switch to mixing with your hands once the fork becomes ineffective, and mix/knead your dough until it has started to come together, and then dump it all out onto your counter
- Mix and knead with your hands until the dough has formed a solid, smooth ball
- Slice the ball into 3 or 4 portions and roll each portion out into a thin tube. There’s no exact size here, but I’d say about 3/4 inch to 1 inch wide is a safe bet
- Slice your rolls into small, bite sized gnocchi pieces. If you want the design that is shown in the pictures above, just roll each gnocchi piece over a fork to get that little pattern. Makes no difference in the final flavor or texture, but it looks pretty :)
- Bring a pot of salted (it should taste like the ocean) water to boil over high heat
- When the water is boiling and you’re ready to add your gnocchi, get started on your sauce first so it’s ready when the gnocchi is done
- In a large skillet add all your sauce ingredients except for the maple syrup (butter, olive oil, thyme, and garlic) and cook over medium – medium high heat, letting everything infuse
- Add your gnocchi to the boiling water, and remove the pieces as they float (that’s how you know they’re done). You’ll remove them in batches as the gnocchi floats to the top (a sieve is great for this, but a slotted spoon works too)
- Add the gnocchi straight into your sauce and let it sear in the hot sauce for a few minutes, stirring every now and then, just until it turns a nice golden brown on at least one side. Don’t leave it in your pan too long or the gnocchi itself will overcook
- When you’ve seared your gnocchi and you’re ready to take it off the burner, drizzle your maple syrup over everything and stir around, letting it all cook together for about thirty seconds or so
- Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Heaping 1/2 cup
- Calories: 307
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 92 mg
- Fat: 10 g
- Carbohydrates: 44 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 9 g
- Cholesterol: 43 mg
If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!
In the mood for more sweet potato recipes? Check these out:
Chipotle Sweet Potato and Chickpea Burgers
Brown Butter Sage Roasted Sweet Potatoes
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