WARM SPICED POTATO GNOCCHI - Kerry Candeloro, Former NYTW House Manager
"On my first trip to Italy, I was determined to make my Italian parents proud by learning how to make homemade pasta. When I proudly came back home & attempted to recreate the recipe, my dad accidentally gave me bread flour rather than semolina- I can only describe the final disastrous product as 'boiled bread.' Now that I'm home during quarantine, I was determined to redeem myself and finally make them fresh pasta. This is my favorite pasta dish I've made so far, inspired by an online site but my own riff on the flavors."
Equipment
- Oven
- Stovetop
Ingredients
- 2 Sweet Potatoes (medium-sized)
- 3 cups AP Flour (you can also use gluten-free)
- 2 tsp Salt
- Olive Oil
- Butter
- Nutmeg
- Cinnamon
- Clove
- Thyme
- Garlic
- Rosemary
- Kosher Salt
- Ground Pepper
Instructions
- Bake sweet potatoes at 400F for about an hour (check after 40ish min).
- Set aside to cool until you can touch them without feeling searing pain.
- Mix salt & 2c flour on a well-floured flat surface & make a well.
- Peel the skins off the potatoes, mashed them, & place in the center of the well- note: if you have a potato ricer, you can just rice them over the well.
- If you want, you can add some spices at this step to liven up the dough a bit. I added some nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove at this point to give it a fall feel. But you do you.
- Flour hands & work to combine mixture. Knead dough, adding extra flour as needed until the dough is dry ~enough to handle. Note: the original recipe said this would eventually be a dry dough- that's a lie. This dough is wet and will always be a little wet. That's fine. Just work with it until it feels right/ your wrists hurt- more likely the latter.
- When it's fully combined, cut the dough into 4-6 big chunks, flouring each individually.
- One chunk at a time, cut pieces of the dough & roll out into logs about 1/2in thick. Cut logs into 1in long gnocchi bits, flour, and place on a towel. Repeat for all the chunks.
- Optional: my ancestors would say that you need to roll each tiny gnocchi over a fork to create the traditional grooves, but I tried it for a bit and then my hands hurt so I'm calling it optional. You'll see from my photos that I gave up after a while.
- Bring a pot of SALTED water to a boil.
- In a separate pan, heat some olive oil & butter on medium heat until it is glistening.
- When the water is boiling, carefully drop in the gnocchi. They will rise to the surface after like 3min. Wait a second and then transfer the floaters to the pan. Repeat until all the floaters have been removed.
- Pour 1/3c of the pasta water into the pan with the olive oil, butter, & pasta and season to taste. I typically add some more fall-y spices as well as thyme, garlic, and rosemary. But you absolutely MUST add salt and cracked pepper- that's not optional.
- Sear the gnocchi for a few minutes until the pieces are a little firmer, slightly browned.
- Place in a big bowl and serve to your loved ones, proud that you made homemade pasta!
Notes
Any extra dough can be stored in the freezer for about a month.