Sweet Potato Gnocchi

I've only had gnocchi twice in my life... the first was in our trip to Italy this past spring, and the second was at home, with some store bought gnocchi. I wasn't sure if I was brave enough to try making it by hand. When I came across this recipe in my latest issue of Clean Eating, it sounded too easy to pass up! It definitely was not hard to make, but it was time consuming. I ended up cooking all the gnocchi and we ate this for lunch throughout the week. Perhaps we are sauce hogs, but I didn't have anything resembling 4 cups of leftover sauce. These weren't quite as good as the ones from Italy, but on my first try I didn't expect them to be! They were still delicious and I loved the twist with the sweet potato.

On a side note, this was part of a budget friendly section of the magazine, and they claim the whole dish costs $9.46, with the cost per serving being $2.37.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Source: Clean Eating Magazine, Sept/Oct 2009
Serves: 4, plus 4 cups of leftover sauce

Traditionally, gnocchi is made with regular potatoes, while bolognese sauce can include whole milk or even cream. By using sweet potatoes, lean ground turkey and skim milk, we've not only taken some of the heft out of this dish, but we've also added a but more nutritional interest.

• 1 large sweet potato
• 2 medium Russet or Idaho potatoes
• 2 cups plus 2 tbsp whole wheat flour, divided, plus additional flour for dusting on hands and cookie sheets
• olive oil cooking spray
• 1 medium yellow or white onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 pound lean ground turkey breast
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 28-oz can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes
• 1 6-oz can tomato paste
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• 2 tbsp fresh basil, minced
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Use a fork to poke holes in all potatoes. Bake on a cookie sheet, lined with foil, for 45 minutes. Remove potatoes from oven, let cool, remove skins and slice. Add potato sliced to a food processor fitted with a standard blade and puree for 3 minutes or until smooth.

2. To make gnocchi, put potato puree in a large bowl and mix in 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup at a time, (you will get a very sticky consistency). Dust hands with a bit of flour and form puree into teaspoon-sized oval shaped balls. You will periodically need to dust your hands with more flour while making balls. Once all balls are made (you will have 90 to 100), take a fork and, pressing lightly, made indentations around the circumference of the balls, being careful not to flatten them. Dust 2 plates or a cookie sheet with flour and place gnocchi on them to air dry so they will not be quite as fragile.

3. While gnocchi are drying, fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil over medium high eat. Once dry, add gnocchi to stockpot in small batches of about 10 to 15. When they float to the surface, after about 3 minutes, remove gnocchi with a slotted spoon.

4. To make sauce, heat a medium saucepot over medium high heat. Let heat for 1 minute, then mist with cooking spray. Add onion , celery, and carrots and saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Add turkey and stir, breaking meat up into pieces with a spoon or spatula as it cooks, about 5 minutes.

5. Once turkey is cooked, add remaining 2 tbsp of flour. Whisk in milk and stir until thickened.

6. Pour in tomatoes, tomato paste and 1/2 cup water. Reduce heat to medium low and stir. Add Italian seasoning and basil. Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and cook or another 5 minutes.

7. To serve, place 1 cup gnocchi in a bowl and top with 1 cup sauce. Garnish with additional basil, if desired.

Nutritional Information
Serving size: 1 cup gnocchi with 1 cup sauce

Calories: 430
Total fat: 2 g
Sat fat: 0 g
Carb: 79 g
Fiber: 13 g
Sugar: 10 g
Protein: 27 g
Sodium: 410 mg
Cholesterol: 30 mg