Sasha's Kitchen: Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Apple Cider Reduction Sauce

Gnocchi is one of my favorite main courses to have in an Italian Restaurant, but a good gnocchi is hard to come by.  I've actually never had sweet potato gnocchi, but I prefer almost every potato-oriented dish with sweet potatoes so I figured I would prepare a sweet potato gnocchi.  The first time I made gnocchi it was a disaster and the pieces of gnocchi tasted gooey and raw.  Since those days, I have perfected my technique.  The recipe that I adapted for our Friday night dinner was savory and delicious.  I made the gnocchi with a simple apple cider reduction sauce mixed with a bit of butter and garlic that was an amazing flavor combination.  When my husband and I both finished this meal, we both wanted more, which is one way of knowing that our dinner was a success.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Apple Cider Sauce (adapted from this recipe)
3 large sweet potatoes (about 3 lbs)
salt
2 cups apple cider
3/4 cup plus 2 T all-purpose flour
2 large egg yolks, beaten
pepper to taste
4 T unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic
4 sage leaves, chopped



Put the sweet potatoes in a large pot, covered with water.  Bring to a boil, then cover and summer for about 30 minutes until the potatoes are tender.  Allow to cool a bit, and then peel off the skin and puree the potatoes in a blender or food processor.

In a small saucepan, simmer and reduce the apple cider to about half a cup.  Add 2 T of butter to the apple cider to make the sauce.  Add the two cloves of garlic and the sage.  Set the sauce aside.  Note that these instructions differ from the actual recipe that I started from.

Combine the pureed sweet potatoes with the flour and the eggs.  Season the dough with salt and pepper. It should resemble and orange paste.

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Use a pastry bag fitted with a tip to pipe the gnocchi onto a large baking sheet.  Pipe into 3/4 of an inch lengths.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi from the baking sheet and drop each int the pot of boiling water for about 45 seconds to 1 minute to cook.  Then remove the gnocchi carefully with the slotted spoon.

Melt the rest of the butter, and saute the gnocchi until golden for about two minutes in the butter.  Serve with the apple cider reduction sauce.

Gnocchi