Name: Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Sage
Yield: 10–12 servings
Ingredients: 2 1-pound red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), rinsed, patted dry, pierced all over with fork; 1 12-ounce container fresh ricotta cheese, drained in sieve 2 hours 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces); 2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar; 2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg; 2 3/4 cups (about) all purpose flour; 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter; 6 tablespoons chopped fresh sage plus whole leaves for garnish

Photo of two bowls of sweet potato gnocchi next to two glasses of white wine.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Micah Marie Morton

These dumplings have a light texture, thanks to the addition of fresh ricotta cheese. Drain the ricotta in a sieve for two hours before starting the recipe.

Ingredients

10–12 servings

2 1-pound red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams), rinsed, patted dry, pierced all over with fork

1 12-ounce container fresh ricotta cheese, drained in sieve 2 hours 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)

2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar

2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

2 3/4 cups (about) all purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

6 tablespoons chopped fresh sage plus whole leaves for garnish

Step 1
Line large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place sweet potatoes on plate; microwave on high until tender, about 5 minutes per side. Cut in half and cool. Scrape sweet potato flesh into medium bowl and mash; transfer 3 cups to large bowl. Add ricotta cheese; blend well. Add Parmesan cheese, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and nutmeg; mash to blend. Mix in flour, about 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms.
Step 2
Turn dough out onto floured surface; divide into 6 equal pieces. Rolling between palms and floured work surface, form each piece into 20-inch-long rope (about 1 inch in diameter), sprinkling with flour as needed if sticky. Cut each rope into 20 pieces. Roll each piece over tines of fork to indent. Transfer to baking sheet.
Step 3
Bring large pot of water to boil; add 2 tablespoons salt and return to boil. Working in batches, boil gnocchi until tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer gnocchi to clean rimmed baking sheet. Cool completely. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)
Step 4
Preheat oven to 300°F. Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until butter solids are brown and have toasty aroma, swirling pan occasionally, about 5 minutes.
Step 5
Add chopped sage (mixture will bubble up). Turn off heat. Season sage butter generously with salt and pepper.
Step 6
Transfer half of sage butter to large skillet set over medium-high heat. Add half of gnocchi. Sauté until gnocchi are heated through, about 6 minutes. Empty skillet onto rimmed baking sheet; place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining sage butter and gnocchi.
Step 7
Divide gnocchi and sauce among shallow bowls. Garnish with sage leaves.

Leave a Review

Reviews (96)

A family member cannont have grains. Could I substitute almond flour for the allpurpose flour?
- Anonymous
- St. George, Utah
- 11/15/2022
I've been making this recipe again and again and everyone loves it. This time though I'd like to freeze them to serve a few days from now. Should I freeze them raw or cooked? Has anyone done this and how did it come out? Appreciate the response.
- Anonymous
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 11/15/2022
I made this as written and it was to die for. Brown butter was critical. I did add more flour once the dough was ready to be cut into Parts and rolled out, probably about 2 additional cups added in approximately 1/2 cup at a time as needed for stickiness. I froze about half the batch so there more-YAY! (Freeze uncooked in a single layer on a cookie sheet an hour or so, then transfer to a container). Amazing.
- Nikklove
- Seattle
- 3/31/2020
Worked well. Made as directed, no additives or extractions. I live in the desert at altitude. Consequently, I had no worries with the dough being too wet. I usually have to modify accordingly. Like others I wished at the time that I'd doubled the recipe and frozen it for later use.
- Anonymous
- ABQ, NM
- 6/29/2019
Next time I'll make a double batch! The extra frozen gnocchi make a wonderful, fast weeknight meal!
- Anonymous
- Deerfield Beach, FL
- 11/25/2018
I dont understand how anyone could have stuck to the 2 3/4 cups of flour. I needed to use about 3 x that amount. The ricotta makes the recipe very "wet" so I could not make dough unless I used literally about 8 cups of flour. I would make this again, maybe without the ricotta, I might try to substitute it with an egg. I made a red wine reduction adn it was superb
- Anonymous
- munich
- 10/12/2017
This recipe is delicious. However, it makes way more than stated. I cut the disk into 6 wedges, used one and froze the other 5 for later. Hopefully they freeze well. I also made the sage butter, drizzled on what I needed and froze that for later. I was hungry by the time the gnocchi were finished so I didn't do the sautéing. I also didn't time the boiling; just put them in the boiling water and waited for them to float.
- Anita98765
- San Diego, CA
- 4/23/2017
Freeze on cookie sheet before cooking, then bag together so they don't make a big mass of dough. You can thaw before boiling but not necessary.
- dana
- Savannah, GA
- 9/26/2016
If you were to freeze these, would you freeze before boiling or after?
- colmcmanus
- 9/14/2016
I'm not really experienced with cooking, so it's probably not a great recipe to attempt, but I want to anyway. I was wondering though, it says to use a baking sheet and preheat the oven, but I never see any instructions about actually putting the stuff in the oven...is that just to keep it warm while you're cooking all the gnocchi? I'd appreciate any help someone could give. Thanks!
- sharonacles
- Montreal
- 9/13/2016
I'm not really experienced with cooking, so it's probably not a great recipe to attempt, but I want to anyway. I was wondering though, it says to use a baking sheet and preheat the oven, but I never see any instructions about actually putting the stuff in the oven...is that just to keep it warm while you're cooking all the gnocchi? I'd appreciate any help someone could give. Thanks!
- sharonacl
- Montreal
- 9/13/2016
I'm not really experienced with cooking, so it's probably not a great recipe to attempt, but I want to anyway. I was wondering though, it says to use a baking sheet and preheat the oven, but I never see any instructions about actually putting the stuff in the oven...is that just to keep it warm while you're cooking all the gnocchi? I'd appreciate any help someone could give. Thanks!
- sharonacl
- Montreal
- 9/13/2016
Excellent! I followed the recipe exactly (minus the making it pretty part), and I will definitely be making this again. Next time I will add more sage. That flavor really made the whole dish, and there wasn't enough of it. While this meal tastes good for the next few days, I'll probably only make it when I have parties. For all the effort and time it takes to make this AND the amount...it's waaaaay too much for one person. I'll have to cut it down.
- Jes2G
- Smyrna, GA
- 1/19/2014
Excellent recipe! I followed the advice of others and waited until the sweet potato had fully cooled before mixing everything together. I ended up only needing about a cup (or maybe a little less) of flour. The gnocchi were soft and pillowy and so so tasty. We added sauteed mushrooms to the mix and served with roasted asparagus. The meal was a big hit. Will definitely make again. Since it's easy to make in advance and freeze we may do so for the holidays.
- ColleenE
- Baltimore, MD
- 6/7/2013
Two sweet potatoes didn't quite give me three cups of mash, so baked another one and ended up with four cups of mash, so I set one cup aside. Here in Canada, Ricotta comes in containers of 475 grams, but 12 ounces = 340g, so I set 135g aside. Drained the ricotta, finely chopped my grated parm in the food processor and added the first three together. After reading the recipe again, decided itcouldn't hurt to add the bit of extra sweet potato and ricotta (which I mad sure to squeeze), so I did. Added the rest of the ingredients as written and ended up with so much dough. Used about 3/4 cup of extra flour for the extra potato & extra ricotta. Placed 5 of the 6 balls of dough into baggies and refridgerated for later. Made the most amazing gnocchis we have ever had! Too tired to do the brown butter with sage, so just melted some fontina cheese over mine, and some blue cheese over my husband's portion... SO GOOD! My husband said it was "Excellent!"... and it was!!!
- Anonymous
- Kitchener, called Bernaie,
- 11/9/2012