Homemade Sweet Potato Gnocchi Recipe | Julie Blanner (2024)

FAQs

Why is my sweet potato gnocchi mushy? ›

The most common reason for mushy sweet potato gnocchi is boiling it too long; once it's floated for 30 seconds, it should be promptly removed and drained well. Drain Off as Much Water as Possible.

Try not to knead it as kneading will develop the gluten and make your gnocchi chewy. Keep some flour in a cup for dusting the board and your hands as you work to stop the dough sticking. Cut your dough into 6 pieces and roll them each into fat ropes about as thick as your thumb.

My Gnocchi Are Falling Apart When I Cook Them

This means there isn't enough flour and your dough is too wet.

The secret to the lightest, most tender potato gnocchi is to bake the potatoes instead of boiling them. A baked potato is dryer than one that has been boiled, which means you avoid having to add more flour to the dough to account for excess moisture, a practice that leads to over-kneaded, tough gnocchi.

How to make a firmer Gnocchi. Boil the potatoes with the peel on, that way the potato absorbs less water. Peel the potato and place through a potato ricer immediately, because the cooler they get the stickier they become. An easy way to peel the potato is stick a fork through and peel it using a knife.

Roll into ropes: Using your palms, roll out the dough into a rope about the thickness of your finger (¾-inch). Dry: Let the gnocchi air dry for 30 minutes. Cook the gnocchi: Spoon a small amount of sauce into your serving bowl.

Egg yolk added to your gnocchi dough helps improve texture, and keep it together while cooking. Gnocchi is traditionally made with eggs in Veneto and no eggs in Piedmont, the two Northern Italian regions famous for gnocchi. We vote for egg yolks at the rate of 1 per (500g) 1 lb of uncooked potatoes used.

Perhaps I'm just a gnocchi snob, but the difference between boiled gnocchi and sautéed gnocchi is pretty amazing. Boiled gnocchi can be a bit stodgy, a bit slimy, a bit heavy… fried gnocchi is perfectly crispy and fluffy and light and toasty and all sorts of other lovely adjectives.

Nutritional Value

Believe it or not, regular pasta is actually more carb-heavy than gnocchi, coming in at around 2 times the amount of carbs per serving. Gnocchi is also notorious for having a lot more sodium, with over 200 grams of it per serving. Regular pasta doesn't have nearly as high of a sodium content.

It is very easy to add too much flour to gnocchi dough, which can make these dumplings glutinous, gummy, and sticky. If you dump all of the flour into your gnocchi dough at once, you won't have the same texture as a gnocchi that has just enough flour to bring it together.

How wet should gnocchi dough be? ›

Mix to form a firm, slightly sticky dough. If it's too sticky, add a little more flour, but only a tablespoon at a time.

You do not need to “work” or knead the dough (this is not pasta or bread dough). The texture should feel soft, warm and smooth- like a giant mashed potato ball. If it's notably sticky, add a sprinkle of flour.

Italian flour

Plus, it has too much protein: High-protein wheat results in chewy gnocchi. If you want to be true to Italian gnocchi, look for imported Italian flour marked "00 tenero," which is milled from soft wheat with a low protein content.

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the gnocchi, tilting the pan from side to side briefly to stop them sticking together, then simmer for about 1½–2 minutes until they start to float. Drain the gnocchi and leave them to steam-dry for 1–2 minutes. Meanwhile, start to make the sauce.

To make gnocchi, our grandmothers and mothers prefer mealy potatoes, rich in starch, and slightly aged as they lose more of their water content over time. Old potatoes does not mean germinating potatoes, but drier potatoes which provide a dry and compact dough. Stay away from waxy potatoes that have a hard pulp.

If the dough is too soft and floury, do not add more flour. More flour will transform your gnocchi dough into a cement brick! Instead, transfer your dough back onto the pastry board and continue to work the dough patiently until it dries out a little bit more.

Start with fresh sweet potatoes that lack obvious blemishes or soft spots. Store them in a cool, dark place with plenty of ventilation away from a heat source. I keep mine in a breathable bin at the bottom of my pantry, where they'll last about two weeks.

It is very easy to add too much flour to gnocchi dough, which can make these dumplings glutinous, gummy, and sticky. If you dump all of the flour into your gnocchi dough at once, you won't have the same texture as a gnocchi that has just enough flour to bring it together.

The main reasons for soggy sweet potato wedges are: overcrowding the baking sheet, not tossing in enough oil, having too thick sized wedges, and not roasting at a high enough heat.