Recipe: Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Chorizo

Hola mi gente! Today, I’m sharing a recipe that is both incredibly delicious and surprisingly easy. I won’t lie; I was intimidated by gnocchi at first and was pleasantly surprised by how well it came together! I made it over the weekend for me and hubs, and can confidently say that it was bomb. I guarantee you can do it, too. Here’s how!

What you’ll need:

For the gnocchi:

3 cups of cooked sweet potato (poke holes in the sweet potatoes with a fork, and then either microwave for 7-10 minutes or roast in foil at 425 for 40 minutes. I personally recommend roasting as it produces the best flavor, but if you’re in a time pinch, microwaving will do the trick!)

2 egg yolks 

1.5 - 2 cups of flour (I used King Arthur gluten-free all-purpose flour as the hubs tries to avoid gluten, but regular flour is great, and 00 flour is even better if you’re going for the gluten)

½ tsp salt

Tbs olive oil (for post-boiling)

For the chorizo

1 lb chorizo, casing removed, and broken into chunks (to make veggie, use vegan chorizo– I recommend Trader Joe’s brand!)

1 shallot, peeled and thinly sliced

½ tbs avocado oil (any oil you have to pan-saute will work fine here)

For the sauce

2 dried ancho chiles, well-rinsed, stems and seeds removed

1 shallot, peeled and halved

3 cloves of garlic, peeled 

1 cup of stock (I used shrimp stock made from shells I had, but you can use chicken, veggie, or beef stock)

¼ cup pecans (walnuts or cashews will also work well here)

1 tbs oil

2 cups of water 

1 tsp salt

For the garnish:

a few sprigs of your favorite herbs; I used cilantro and fennel fronds, but basil and parsley would be nice too

To prepare:

For the sweet potatoes, you’ll know they’re cooked through once you're able to easily pierce all the way through them with a fork. Let them cool for about 20 minutes to room temperature. While they’re cooling, start on the sauce. 

For the sauce, heat a pan on medium and add the oil. Add the shallots, garlic, ancho chiles, and pecans. Cook for 5-7 minutes, allowing everything to turn a nice dark brown. Char = flavor!  At this point, add the water to the pan and cover with a lid, simmering for about 10 minutes. Everything should now be very soft and blendable. Take off the heat and remove the remaining water, transferring the ingredients to a blender. To the blender, add the stock and salt, blending until smooth. Run the sauce through a mesh strainer to remove any grit. Add the strained sauce to a pan and simmer on low for the next 15-20 minutes, occasionally whisking. It will begin to significantly reduce and simmer. Here’s what the consistency will look like when it’s ready:

Your sweet potatoes should be cooled by now, so let’s gnocchi! Start by removing the skins of the potatoes. To make the most pillowy gnocchi, press the sweet potato through a potato ricer or strainer into a large mixing bowl. If you don’t have those tools, just add the cooked sweet potatoes as they are. Fold in the two egg yolks. In a separate bowl, sift in the flour and mix in the salt. Begin slowly adding the flour to the sweet potato-egg mixture, about ½ a cup at a time. The goal is to use as little flour as possible while getting the dough to a point where it’s just slightly sticky and able to be formed into a dough ball. Be careful not to overwork the dough, as this will make for tough gnocchi. It should look something like this: 

At this point, transfer the dough to a floured surface. Cut the large dough ball into four even sections, and roll each of these into a ball, adding flour as needed if it’s too sticky at any point. Roll each of the balls out into 1-inch thick ropes, and then cut these ropes into about ½-¾ inch sections.You have your gnocchi, yay!

You can leave the gnocchi like this or roll each individual piece over a gnocchi board or the back of your fork, using your thumb and pointer finger like this: 

Once all gnocchi is to your desired shape, cook in a large pot of salted, boiling water. Cook until the gnocchi is floating to the top, about 2-3 minutes. Strain the gnocchi, transfer to a baking sheet, and immediately coat with olive oil to prevent sticking. Set aside for just a few minutes.

Let’s cook the chorizo. Heat a wide pan on medium-high, add your oil, then add the shallots. Let them cook for 5-7 minutes, until they begin caramelizing. Add the chorizo and cook for about 3-5 minutes, searing the pieces golden brown and allowing the fat to release and coat the bottom of the pan. Now, add your gnocchi, getting a nice golden brown color on each and every piece of the gnocchi, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from heat.

To plate, add a few spoonfuls of sauce to a shallow bowl and spread it to the edges, evenly coating the bottom. Add the gnocchi and chorizo mixture and top with herbs. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! You can watch a reel of the recipe at my instagram, @Feedmysol. xoxo, Nata