This recipe is a little more time consuming than others but I can honestly say it is worth the effort. The first time I had this I had to have the traditional burnt butter and sage leaf sauce and OMG I was hooked straight away. We have also had this with a beef cheek casserole and my kids have eaten it with pesto, it really goes with anything. I actually put my leftover Gnocchi dough pre cut into the freezer to test how well it froze and can happily report that it passed the test.
Ingredients
Approx 500 grams Kumara (I used a mixture of orange and purple but I think the purple works best as it has less moisture)
1 3/4-2 cups Almond flour (or almond meal, just make sure its finely ground)
1/2 Tapioca flour, plus extra for dusting and rolling
1 egg, lightly beaten
Method
Preheat the oven to 220°
Prick the kumara on all sides and place on a baking tray and put in the oven until tender, approx 45 mins. Once cooked remove them from the oven and while they are still very hot remove the skins (its handy to use a tea towel to hold them while you are peeling the skins as they will be HOT). If you have a potato ricer pass the kumara through this or if not I just used a masher and gave them a good mash. Then place them in a thin layer on a lightly floured bench to cool. While the kumara is cooling, combine the almond flour and tapioca flour in a bowl and mix well. Put a large pot on to a gentle boil and salt generously
When the kumara has cooled to room temperature drizzle the beaten egg evenly over the top and then sprinkle with 1 cup of the almond/tapioca mixture. Using a fork gently work the dough until it starts to come together in clumps. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time and incorporate until the dough has lost most of its stickiness. Once most of the flour has been added you can start to use your hands to knead the dough until it comes together into a smooth, non sticky, ball.
Cut dough into 8 -10 smaller manageable portions. Roll out each portion into a rope of approx 3cm in diameter. Cut each rope into pieces around 4cm long. To test that the dough is the correct texture place 1 piece in the pot of boiling salted water. If it comes apart a little you will need to add a little more flour. I didn’t try to make any fancy indentations in mine although it apparently helps the sauce to stick better to the gnocchi once cooked.
When all the dough is cut, cook it in batches of about 15 so you don’t over crowd the pot. The gnocchi are done when they float to the surface and stay there for 10 secs so all up around 90 secs or so. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a baking tray and give a gentle toss with some olive oil to prevent them sticking. These can then be fried to achieve the crunchy outside, pillowy soft inside that gnocchi are famous for. I melted a large chunk of butter in a large frypan and once it was melted and turning brown I added sage leaves. Then, in batches, I fried the gnocchi and served immediately.
If you are not planning on cooking them straight away place on a lightly floured tray and freeze or if using in a day or 2 put them in an airtight container in the fridge.
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