recipe: whole wheat sweet potato gnocchi

Full disclaimer, I've only tried to make pasta once before in my life. I made an attempt at making pumpkin ravioli in 2009. To call it a disaster would be an understatement. Not to say that my first attempt at gnocchi wasn't a slight disaster, but I'm chalking that up to the fact that I was on my third glass of wine by the time it was ready. No regrets, it was hot in my apartment, the wine was chilled, and I was getting a little frustrated! That all being said, the end result was incredible.

To make this recipe gluten-free and paleo friendly, simply substitute the whole wheat flour with one cup of arrowroot powder.

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes

2 cups almond flour

5 tbsp whole wheat flour, plus more for dusting

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of garlic powder

1 egg white

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Poke the sweet potatoes with a fork and place them on a baking sheet. Bake for 50 minutes or until soft. Remove from the oven and let cool.

2. Peel the potatoes and place into a large bowl. Mash well (Side note: if you don't have a potato masher, a sturdy metal whisk will do the trick). Add the almond flour, whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda, and garlic powder. Mix well to combine.

3. Whisk the egg white until frothy. Gently fold it into the sweet potato mixture. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

4. Dust a work surface with whole wheat flour. Roll out a handful of the chilled dough into a long, thin rope. At this point, if you know that you will not be eating the entire recipe's worth of gnocchi in one sitting (it serves four), separate the dough into four equal ropes, wrap whatever you want to save in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge. It keeps better this way. Cut the dough into one-inch segments. Use a fork to slightly flatten each segment.

5. Prepare a pot of boiling water.Working in small batches, drop each piece of gnocchi into the water. Let cook for about one minute. When they float to the top, remove with a slotted spoon. Place in colander to drain.

At this point, your gnocchi is done. If you'd like to take the recipe one step further, I recommend pan searing it. You can use butter, ghee, or olive oil for this. I chose a tablespoon of olive oil and seared each piece for about two minutes on each side. I then browned some garlic in the oil to make a quick aioli sauce to put on top of the gnocchi. For added protein and iron, I threw in some chickpeas and wilted spinach, then topped it all with some grated parmesan.

If anyone tries this recipe, please let me know how it turns out!