Sweet basil sweet potato gnocchi

This weekend my wife and I took out for St. Louis.  Elvis Costello was performing at the Pageant and since I am a huge fan (she likes him too) we knew we had to.  I’m not too sure how often he comes to little ol’ Missouri so I jumped at the opportunity.  The show was great, he had go-go dancers and a ‘spinning songbook’ - from which he played whatever song the dial landed on.



Saturday we plunked around the business district, and since we were with her parents, we got a free ride to some of their favorite places.  One in particular was a little shop called the Wine Merchant.  Little isnt exactly the right way to describe this place; from the outside it was quite unassuming but once you walk through the doors a plethora of wine and spirits awaits you.  Not only that but a great selection of artisan cheeses and boutique snacks accompany the libations.  I was awed by the selection and excited to just roam around, but the thing that caught my eye was something as we left.  

St. Louis publishes a food magazine for the area called FEAST and I snagged one as we walked out the door.  In it were some great vegetarian ideas (among other great recipes) one of which being a sweet potato gnocchi with mushroom bolognese and I knew it was my mission to recreate this.

The recipe calls for fresh basil but my store didnt have any and I didnt feel like trekking all over town in a thunderstorm to find it, so I decide to mix it up a bit.  First thing is first though, you need all of this:

The sweet potato, tomato, onion, mushrooms, garlic, red pepper flakes and in my case some dried basil all laid out and ready to go.  To start bring a pot of water to a boil and toss in the sweet potatoes (after peeling and chopping) and let them cook through.

In the meantime saute the onion until it becomes transparent, then toss in the garlic and mushrooms until they are soft and changed color a bit.  

Now add your diced tomatoes and cook on low for about 45 minutes.  After this add the red pepper flakes and a couple pinches of dried basil.  Let it simmer on low heat until you get the gnocchi done.

Once the potatoes are cooked, drain them, mash them, mix in a couple tablespoons of dried basil, a bit of salt and pepper and cool to room temp.  If you pop them in the freezer for about twenty minutes and stir every few they cool much quicker.  

After the potatoes are cool mix in about ½ c flour then add ¼ c at a time until a dough forms.  You want it to come to a point where the dough doesnt stick to your hands when you mess with it - about 2 cups maybe a little more depending on how many/big your potatoes are.  Once you can, roll out the dough until it is ½ inch thick then cut it into ½ strips and again so that you end up with squares.

Next, gently roll the squares and press them with a fork to seal them.  Bring a few cups of water to a boil again and drop the gnocchi in.  Watch them and as soon as they float for a minute or so they are done - total time 5-8 minutes.  

Serve a handful of the gnocchi with a spoonful of bologenese over and grate some fresh Parmesan on top.  These tasty little gnocchi would also be good in a garlic cream sauce with a touch of spice.