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Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Pistachio Pesto
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 3–4 servings 1x
Description
For the pasta you only need flour, sweet potato, salt and a little bit of water. Paired with and easy food processor pistachio pesto, chef’s kiss!
Ingredients
Scale
For the gnocchi:
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1–2 cups of all purpose flour, more for rolling
- 1 teaspoon salt
- water, as needed
For the pesto:
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 cup pistachios, toasted or roasted and preferably unsalted or lightly salted
- 2 cups packed basil
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- salt + pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Pierce sweet potato with a fork all over. Bake on baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 45-60 minutes. Begin checking at the 30 minute mark. (How long it cooks really depends on the size of the sweet potato).
- Once cooked through (easily pierced by a fork through the thicket part), remove from the oven. Let cool until you can handle it with your hands.
- While the sweet potato cools, prepare the pesto.
- In a food processor, combine the garlic, parmesan, salt and pepper, pistachios, and basil. Blend until a paste-like consistency forms. On the lowest setting, slowly drizzle olive oil until the the pesto is smooth. Set aside.
- Notes: Air on side of caution and use less salt than you think you need. The parmesan cheese has salt and the pistachios, depending on which ones you bought, may also be salted.
- In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Heavily salt the water.
- Once the sweet potato cools, carefully peel the skin off. Add to a food processor and blend until smooth. If it is too thick to process, you can add 1 tablespoon at a time of water. You’re looking for a smooth texture.
- On a cutting board, place flour and salt mixture in the middle of it. Start with 1-1/2 cup of flour. You can add more. If you know you have a larger than average sweet potato, you can start with 2 cups. Create a well in the middle of the flour. Add the sweet potato puree in the middle of the well. With a bench scraper, slowly incorporate the flour in to the puree. If the dough is too wet, add more flour. Once you can work the dough, knead it for about 2-3 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 8 even pieces. As you work each piece, you can cover the remaining pieces with a damp tea towel. Take one piece of the dough on a lightly floured cutting board. Roll it until it is about 3/4 – 1 inch in diameter. Using a knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough in to 1 inch pieces. Lightly flour the dough pieces. Using a gnocchi board or the back of a fork, roll each dough piece down the board or fork gently. Continue with the rest of the dough.
- Boil the gnocchi until it rises to the top of the water – this should take about a minute or two. Gently stir to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom or to each other. Use a slotted spoon to carefully remove the gnocchi and transfer to a mixing bowl.
- In the mixing bowl, add a generous spoonful or two of the pesto – save what you don’t use for later. Gently mix, adding more pesto to your liking. Serve immediately.
- Pesto will keep in the fridge for less than a week. To keep for longer, you can freeze it.