Japanese Sweet Potato and Carrot Gnocchi in Sage Butter

I've officially been home for a week. I've spent the majority of it sleeping in, watching How I Met Your Mother, the I.T. Crowd and Sherlock, and eating ice cream. Not only is this a hard-earned lazyness (3.8 gpa this semester whatup), but also I was disentangling myself from my crazy addiction to caffeine. It sucked, and was basically like a period but worse, so I gave myself license to laze around and be miserable.


Now that things are better and I no longer have headaches all day, I figured I'd start pitching in around the house. Doing dishes and all that. 


I stumbled upon this recipe and decided to make it for my family, but the road was paved with disaster and mishap! But it was okay because today was the first not-rainy day since I've been home.

The only sweet potatoes at the grocery were Japanese Sweet Potatoes.
I figured they were the same as regular sweet potatoes.

WRONG. They are not orange, but potato colored inside. 

They are also very dry and starchy, like already dehydrated mashed potatoes.
I added water to in order to rehydrate them.

Pureeing them with steamed carrots did the trick!

Adding flour.

Flour is essential in the making of these babies, so that the dough isn't too sticky, and so the gnochi doesn't fall apart in the cooking process. The sad truth of the matter is that the more Flour you add, the less the dough will taste like sweet potato. I made a few gnocchi with only a  small amount of flour. They didn't cook well, and totally dissolved into soft gummy blobs, but they were much tastier than the ones with more flour.

As the dough formed, chunks of carrot emerged. Tasty.

Gnocchinis!

This was only half o the dough.

I took a mojito break. Also this book is awesome. 

Butt Pats

  Overall, fried in butter and covered in cheese, these babies were fantastic. But on their own, they were a little too gummy. I'm not sure what I could do to perfect them. Maybe I will consult with a non-vegan, non-sweet potato recipe. I did have a lot of fun making this dish, as it forced me to improvise. 

Japanese Sweet Potato and Carrot Gnocchi in Sage Butter


2 pounds Japanese sweet potatoes (about 2 large ones. Yields 2.5 cups of potato)
1 cup chopped carrot
dash cinnamon
dash nutmeg
dash salt
2.5 - 3 cups flour
1/2 stick of butter
sage leaves
pine nuts


Because Japanese sweet potatoes are so much drier than regular sweet potatoes, the best way to cook them is by microwave. 
Pierce the potatoes and microwave them for about 6 minutes each.
After letting them sit a little bit to cool down, cut them in half and scoop out the insides into a large-ish bowl. mash, add a little water to incorporate it, then cover and chill for a bit. 


Meanwhile, peel your carrots and cut them in to uniform pieces. Then steam them. I under-steamed them, which you should not do. Steam the heck out of those babies.


Put your carrots and potato mash in a food processor and add your spices.
Turn the processor on and slowly add about a half cup of water, until everything is well incorporated and smooth. 


Transfer your mixture to a large bowl and start adding flour a half cup at a time. It gets tough, but never fear.


Cut your dough in to small, fist sized sections, and roll them out on a floured surface one at a time. Make about half inch to an inch thick snakes, then cut into half inch pieces. roll them, and mark them with a fork.


Cover them until you cook them. If you're waiting a while to make them, put them in a container in the fridge.


When you're going to eat them, cook them in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, melt your butter in a pan and start crisping your pine nuts and sage. When your Gnocchi is done, drain them, and then put them in your frying pan. Set the heat for medium high and cook them for 10-20 minutes, or until they are sufficiently browned.


Serve with lots of cheese.