That’s a mouthful to say, and what a mouthful to enjoy! Gnocchi is easy to make, and versatile. Serve as a side dish, or on its own as a vegetarian meal. Also good topped with your favourite pasta sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250 mL) peeled and cubed sweet potato
- ¼ cup (60 mL) reserved potato cooking water
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup (60 mL) crumbled feta
- 2 cups (500 mL) whole barley flour
- ¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
- Pinch ground nutmeg
Topping
- 1 Tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, finely sliced
- ¼ cup (60 mL) sundried tomatoes, softened and thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) pumpkin seeds, coarsely crushed
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) crumbled dry sage leaves or 1 tsp (5 mL) dried sage
- Freshly ground pepper
Cook sweet potatoes with just enough water to cover until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Place sweet potatoes in a medium mixing bowl. Mash, adding about ¼ cup (60 mL) cooking water to make a thick, smooth mixture.
With a fork, beat in egg and stir in feta, salt and nutmeg. Gradually add barley flour, ¼ cup (60 mL) at a time, until a soft dough forms and starts to pull away from the bowl. Depending upon the moistness of the dough, not all the flour may be needed. The dough should be sticky. With floured hands, remove dough to a floured surface. Divide into three pieces; with your hands, quickly roll into three ropes, each about ½ inch (1 cm) thick. Cut ropes into ½ inch (1 cm) pieces. If the characteristic gnocchi grooves are desired, sprinkle a bit more flour on the work surface, and pull each piece toward you on the floured surface using the tines of a fork.
Gnocchi can be made up to this stage, covered and refrigerated, for up to 1 day, or frozen for up to 1 month.
When ready to cook, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Cook gnocchi, in batches of about 15 pieces, until they rise to the surface of the cooking water. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a warm platter. Continue with remaining batches until all gnocchi are cooked.
In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add cooked gnocchi. Stir in garlic, shallot, sundried tomatoes and pumpkin seeds, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until shallot has softened and the mixture is hot and fragrant.
Serve in shallow bowls, sprinkled with sage leaves and pepper.
Makes about 60 gnocchi or 4 servings (about 15 gnocchi each).
Nutritional Information (per serving): Calories: 318; Protein: 5 g; Carbohydrate: 50 g; Fibre: 9 g; Sugars: 4 g; Fat: 17 g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Trans Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 52 mg; Sodium: 322 mg; Potassium: 292 mg