Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sausage and Broccoli
January 10, 2022 • Meat & Poultry, One Dish Meals, Pasta & Pizza
I don’t make gnocchi often, mostly because I rarely have leftover mashed potatoes or ricotta cheese. But after super sizing our mashed sweet potatoes recently, I decided to make gnocchi with the leftovers. Gnocchi technique usually involves rolling them down a board or using a fork to get tine marks into the pieces so the sauce clings to them more.
But this is a simple dish to pull together that really doesn’t have a sauce per se. The flavor comes from the gnocchi crisping in brown butter, and the flatter sides to the gnocchi allow it to brown better. That, combined with the spicy ingredients of the sausage, and cheese, give you layers of flavor. Everything is just tossed together in a big bowl and then you serve it up.
I’ve including the link to make sausage from scratch, but you can just sub spicy (or sweet) loose Italian sausage if you prefer.
- 2 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes
- 1 egg
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, divided
- 1 cup flour (or more as needed)
- 1 pound loose spicy pork sausage
- 1 head broccoli, cut into florets
- 4 tablespoons butter
- Combine the potatoes with the egg, ½ cup of the cheese, and the flour. Mix until well combined, adding more flour if the dough is still sticky. When the dough is smooth enough to handle without it sticking to the counter, roll it out into a long rope about ½ inch thick and cut into 1 inch long gnocchi. Toss lightly with flour so they don't stick together and set aside.
- Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium high heat until no longer pain. Drain most of the fat away and set aside. Microwave the broccoli with a little water for 3-4 minutes and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to boil over high heat; add the gnocchi and cook until they are all floating. Taste one to ensure they are cooked through, then drain.
- Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat until it just starts to brown. Add the gnocchi in a single layer and cook for a couple of minutes to brown the gnocchi. Use a flat metal spatula to lift the gnocchi periodically to ensure they aren't sticking to the pan.
- Combine the gnocchi with the sausage and broccoli and toss with the remaining cheese. Serve with extra red pepper flakes for added zip.