healthy laps

I have had 2 giant sweet potatoes sitting on our counter for over a week now and wanted to make them into something yummy and comforting for our Friday night dinner.  I decided on Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Butter -yum!

I looked up a few recipes and got some inspiration from Kath and Giada and went to town.

Ingredients for Sweet Potato Gnocchi

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 2/3 cup cottage cheese
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1.5-2ish cups whole wheat pastry flour (use what you need)

Start by cooking the sweet potatoes in the oven at 375°F for about 60 minutes.

Then, cut open and let cool for 10-15 minutes.

After the potato has cooled, scrape out the insides and dump them into a bowl, leaving the skins out.

Add the cottage cheese, salt, cinnamon and pepper and mash it all together.

Then begin to add the flour a little bit at a time until a soft dough forms.

Lightly flour your counter or another surface and place the dough on it, then cut into 4-6 sections.

Roll each section into a long rope about 1-inch wide.

And, cut into 1-inch sections.  This recipe makes tons of gnocchi!

I ended up freezing about 3/4ths of this for later!

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil and add the gnocchi in 3-4 batches in order to keep them from sticking together.

Cook about 2-3 minutes until they float to the top.  They should be tender, but a little firm.  (You do not want mushy gnocchi!)

Remove them from the water when done and continue with each batch.  Add the cooked gnocchi to a strainer and run cold water over them to stop them from cooking and sticking together.

Once all gnocchi are cooked, you are ready for the sauce!

Ingredients for Maple Butter Sauce

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

Add the butter and coconut oil to a saute pan over medium heat and cook until it browns a little.

Then add the thyme, cinnamon and maple syrup and stir to combine.  Add the gnocchi and saute for a few minutes until their sides become browned.

Serve the gnocchi warm with a side of roasted broccoli* and maple steamed spinach**.

These gnocchi turned out great!  They were surprisingly flavorful and super filling.  A bit sweet from the maple syrup and cinnamon, but savory from the thyme.  We both absolutely loved these and can’t wait for leftovers!

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*For the roasted broccoli, I cut up 1 head of broccoli and placed it in a pan to cook.  Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees while you are making the gnocchi.

**For the maple steamed spinach, add 1 tbsp of water and 1 tbsp of maple syrup to a saute pan over medium-low heat.  Add a bunch of spinach and cover.  Leave covered for a few minutes until lightly steamed.  It has just a hint of sweetness from the maple syrup.

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: Recipes, sweet potato |