Sweet Potato Ricotta Gnocchi in Cheese Sauce

These gnocchi are soft sweet potato pillows – oh yeah they certainly are. The addition of the ricotta and using as little flour as possible is key. Bathing in a creamy sauce with a little bit of cheese makes for a fantastic dinner. Also wonderful as a side dish.

After some trial and error, I believe I found a recipe that you will enjoy, at least when you enjoy heavenly soft gnocchi that will not fall apart.

The trial and error part had to do with how little flour I could get away with and it turned out to be 1/4 cups + 1.5 tablespoon. This is in combination with 8 ounces of sweet potato and 1/2 cup of ricotta and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Key Ingredients in This Recipe

• Sweet potato
• Ricotta cheese – whole milk or low fat
• Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese
• All-purpose flour
• Sage
• Cream
• Gruyere cheese – or any other cheese that adds flavor to the creamy sauce
• Salt & pepper
• Nutmeg (optional)

How to Make Sweet Potato Ricotta Gnocchi in Cheese Sauce

• Cook the sweet potato. Do that in a way you are comfortable with. I cook my sweet potatoes in the microwave, using the sweet potato setting in this case. After that I wrap the potato in aluminum foil and rest for approx. 10 minutes.
• Cut the potato in half, allow it to cool and scoop the flesh in a bowl and mash it.
• Add the ricotta, Parmigiano Reggiano, flour, chopped sage and salt and pepper and mix all together. You’re looking for a ‘dough’ that holds together, that’s all. Add as little flour as possible. Flour will make the gnocchi firmer and heavier and you want the opposite – you want light, melt-in-you-mouth softness.
• Place the ball of sweet potato dough back in the bowl and place the bowl in the refrigerator to cool, for at least an hour, so it is easier to handle later.
• When it’s time to start creating the gnocchi, take the dough out of the fridge, dust the counter with flour. Work in manageable portions. E.g. cut the dough ball in 4 parts. Roll each part into a long rope. Here you can decide how big you want your gnocchi to be; the thicker the rope, the bigger your gnocchi pillows. I rolled until the rope was about 1-1.5 inches thick. Then cut the rope into 1-inch pieces and you just created your first gnocchi.

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the gnocchi and boil until the gnocchi rise and start to float. Do this in portions, not all gnocchi at the same time. You don’t want the water to cool down and then take a long time to boil again. This may result in the gnocchi falling apart. When you cook them in portions it take 1-2 minutes for the gnocchi to rise to the top.
• Transfer floating gnocchi onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Make sure they do not touch each other. Continue with the rest of the gnocchi.
• While cooking the gnocchi, create the cheese sauce, by heating cream, with some salt and pepper in a skillet. Add grated cheese and a pinch of nutmeg.
• Continue to heat the sauce and once all gnocchi are done add the gnocchi to the sauce, and warm them up for a minute or two.
• Scoop the gnocchi with the sauce onto 2 heated plates or bowls. Sprinkle with a little bit of chopped sage and serve.

Sweet Potato Ricotta Gnocchi in the cheese sauce are a delicious main dish, without the sauce they are a brilliant and healthy side dish.

Enjoy!