Warmth of Fall

Happy Blog-iversary to me!

Today, I'm celebrating 2 full years of local, seasonal, and ethical cooking & mixology.

Three (or at least two) cheers for Joining in the Feast!

Thanks, friends.

The little guy around my house had been begging for gnocchi for a while, even fondling pre-packaged, non-refrigerated ones at the local corner store. (No, buddy. We can do better than that!) How do you say "gnocchi" again, anyway? We share the love and pronounce it in random ways amongst ourselves.

I've realized that potato gnocchi and I just aren't great friends- in my hands they're on the dense side. I promise to not judge them needlessly and I will give the relationship further thought. In the meantime, there were a few unclaimed sweet potatoes (well, technically yams) in our produce basket, so I thought I'd give the yam variety of tubers another try to see if I could make a manageable dough. I was hoping for a bit lighter-hearted gnocchi di patati companion than the product of Sam Yam's distant cousin, Bud Spud. My prior attempt at yam gnocchi was good, but sticky, requiring piping the dough into the boiling water.

So, round two!

Aren't they beauties?

There is something therapeutic about kneading this dough, rolling it into ropes, slicing, and indenting it with fork tines. Almost meditative. Well, at least when one is doing the prep work in solitude. Which I was not. It was an equally enjoyable mama-son bonding afternoon of rolling sweet potato gnocchi together. They turned out splendidly and will make it into the rotation again!

my little sous chef at work

The fall colors of cheery orange yam with rainbow chard and slices of pecan (a Southern hat tip thrown in!) made us smile. The flavors made us clean our plates.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Rainbow Chard

serves 4

8 oz sweet potato, roasted

1 egg

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp fresh grated nutmeg

3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 to 1/2 c white flour

pot of salted water

1 bunch rainbow chard

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp minced sage leaves

3 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp slivered sage leaves

1/4 c chopped pecans

1 tsp sea salt

Smash peeled, roasted yam in a bowl. Blend in an egg, then garlic, salt, nutmeg, and most of the flours. After kneading, if dough is soft, pliable, and not too sticky, let it rest. If it is too sticky, add a bit more flour and knead again.

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, stem chard. Mince stems and chop leaves coarsely. Blanch the chard leaves in the water, removing with a slotted spoon to drain. Keep water boiling for gnocchi.

Pull off portions of the dough and roll each into a rope. Cut into 1" pieces, then roll or dust each in flour. Press fork tines into one side, rolling it off to gently mark the dumpling.

Boil 1 dozen gnocchi at a time in the chard-infused water. After 1-2 minutes, the gnocchi will rise from the bottom of the pot to the surface. Remove floating gnocchi to a towel to drain. Repeat until all dumplings have been boiled.

Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat. Cook garlic and a pinch of minced sage leaves until fragrant, but not yet golden. Add minced chard stems and stir until softened. Set aside.

Add damp-dry chard leaves to the same skillet. Toss until well coated with residual oil and softened. Set aside.

Wipe out skillet. Add butter and heat until foam subsides on medium heat and butter begins to turn slightly golden. Add gnocchi to skillet and cook on one side until golden. Add sage leaves and pecan slices. Toss and cook until sage and pecans are crisp and gnocchi is evenly cooked- golden on the suface, hot in the center.

Plate a bed of chard, topped with seasoned chard stem, then gnocchi with sage & pecans. Enjoy hot!

And keep up the feasting with thankful hearts, wherever you are.