Sweet potato gnocchi recipe with walnut sauce

The new

For us, the true joy of any creative endeavour is the way that an extremely subtle shift can open up a whole expanse of possibilities. For instance, discovering a hue that complements what you have in your wardrobe makes all of your familiar, favourite pieces look different. This is where mechanical processes are supplemented with fresh energy. As you become a better cook, the basic sourcing, chopping, and stirring become more innate to you, but you will need to bring in new ideas and ingredients to keep things stimulating.

Sweetening the potato

Sweet potato has been a revelation to us in this way as we move away from starchy and greasy comfort foods towards healthier, but no less nurturing, flavours. Many stodgy but lovely dishes that we thought would be relegated to nostalgia have been re-birthed thanks to this orange root vegetable. A vegan version of shepherd's pie, made with lentils and topped with sweet potato, is a new regular in our freezer. It's easy to make in advance and perfect for a midweek supper or lazy Sunday. This is the dish that we now bring to ill or recuperating friends, and has been met with enthusiasm by everyone from diehard vegans to old-fashioned traditionalists.

La dolce potato vita

We're now applying the powers of the sweet potato to our Italian favourites. The earthy simplicity, elegance, and passion of Italian cuisine is unmatched in our book, but can be quite challenging when seeking to reduce the presence of gluten, dairy, and unhealthy carbs in your diet. These sweet potato gnocchi are as smooth and satisfying as gnocchi made with white potatoes. Instead of topping them with a pesto made from cheese, we've added Erbology Walnut Oil to a gremolata of walnuts, garlic, thyme, and lemon to infuse the gnocchi with rich flavour. You really do feel the difference right away when you replace white potatoes with their easier to digest cousin. The gratifying, bolstering substance of potatoes remains wholly intact, but the heaviness and bloat vanishes. There's no need to sink back thickly into your seat upon finishing. Instead, you'll feel ready to go out and conquer; your palate will be enlivened rather than coated. Sweet potatoes don't come immediately to mind when thinking about Italian dishes, but they are highly compatible with more identifiably Italian ingredients such as basil, tomato, olives, wild fennel seed, pine nuts, lemon, rosemary, and more. With this realisation, your entire comprehension of what makes something taste Italian just might shift. Revisiting old Italian favourites may become newly alluring. Dream up other sauces and toppings for your gnocchi... if you still eat some dairy, you could experiment with more traditional pesto sauces.

Kneading the sweet potato gnocchi

To maximise the pleasure of this dish, give yourself plenty of time to work the dough. Smoothing out lumps, blending the flour completely into the potato, rolling, and shaping into smaller rounds to delicately dust with flour is surprisingly therapeutic, especially if you spend a good portion of your days staring at an electronic screen. La dolce potato vita, indeed!