Sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter honey sauce

Step by step

1. Preheat oven to 220°C. Slice potatoes in half, and place flesh side down on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and bake until fork tender, about 35 minutes. (NOTE: the russet potato will take longer to bake).

2. Once potatoes are baked and cool enough to handle, peel the skins off and discard.

3. Scoop the potato flesh into your mixer and fit the paddle attachment. Start on speed 2, then increase speed to 6 and mash the potatoes for 30 seconds.

4. Swap the paddle attachment for the dough hook. Add salt and egg yolk, then turn mixer to speed 2. While mixing, add the flour into the mixer, about a quarter at a time. As soon as each flour addition is incorporated, immediately add in the next one, and turn off the mixer once last addition is incorporated. The dough should be slightly sticky, but if it’s too sticky to handle, add another 30g of flour before removing it from the mixing bowl.

5. Lightly flour your hands and remove the dough from the mixer. (Gently knead the dough on a lightly floured surface, until dough is workable. Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Working one piece at a time, roll dough into a thin cylinder about 1-1.5 cm in diameter. Cut the cylinder lengthways into 1-1.5 cm pieces, then roll each piece over the tines of a fork (or gnocchi board) to indent.

6. Set a large pot of water to boil and add 1 teaspoon of salt. Once boiling, boil the gnocchi in batches for 4-5 minutes, or until gnocchi floats to surface. With a slotted spoon, transfer gnocchi to a clean, rimmed baking sheet. Cool completely.

7. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Once melted, reduce heat to medium and allow butter to cook for about 3 minutes, until the butter solids are brown and have a toasty aroma (swirling pan occasionally. Increase heat to medium-high, add minced garlic, pine nuts and sage, and stir to evenly coat them in the butter. Toast for 1-2 minutes, stirring occasionally.

8. Add the gnocchi into the saucepan. Gently stir to evenly coat in the butter and cook, uncovered, for 1 minute. Add in the honey, stir again, and cook for another minute. Finally, add in the baby spinach, cover the pan, and allow the spinach to wilt for about a minute. Uncover the pan and stir the spinach into the mixture.

9. Turn off heat, coat the gnocchi with fresh grated parmesan, and serve immediately with flake salt, freshly ground pepper, and more parmesan.