Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Butter Sage Sauce (Gluten-Free)

This Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Butter Sage Sauce is a family favorite. It’s one of those magical unicorn recipes that everyone happily eats, usually asks for seconds, and we never have leftovers!

The original recipe is from our What a Good Eater! cookbook, and I’ve made a few tweaks and republished it here (with permission). The tweaks are that I use a different gluten-free flour than suggested in the book (both work fine, I just like this one better these days), and I substituted butter with grass-fed ghee.

Sweet Potato Gnocchi is a fall staple in this house, but we’re all mentally ready for fall right now and P has been begging for these for days.

This recipe will yield a huge batch so you could save some in a freezer bag for an easy weeknight dinner. We usually eat them all, though, because we are savages.

Scroll down for the full video, and you’ll see me using a wooden gnocchi board to make the lines in the pasta. You don’t need to do this, but if you like making pasta I’d invest in one. Those lines are on pasta because it helps the pasta grab the sauce. And more sauce is always a good thing.

I hope you love this one as much as we do!

Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Butter Sage Sauce (Gluten-Free)

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes (or 6-8 smaller-sized sweet potatoes), about 2 lbs. total
3 cups Namaste Foods Gluten-Free Perfect Flour Blend (I’ve found this to be the best one so far)
1 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 teaspoon freshly grated ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan sea salt
1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
3-5 tablespoons extra flour, set aside, or arrowroot powder (if needed while forming the gnocchi)

For the Butter Sage Sauce:

1/4 cup grass-fed ghee (or butter)
1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves, chopped (approximately 8 leaves)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Scrub sweet potatoes clean, then pierce with a fork a few times all around. (This lets the potatoes release juice and pressure as they cook in the oven.) Place a parchment-lined baking dish on the bottom rack of the oven to catch drips, then place the sweet potatoes directly on the rack above. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until potatoes are soft.

While the potatoes are baking, place the flour, grated cheese, ground nutmeg, salt, and pepper into a large bowl and stir until fully combined.

Once the potatoes are out of the oven, slice open and allow to cool. Scoop out the flesh, place in a food processor, and puree until you reach a completely smooth consistency.* Transfer the puree to a large bowl.

Add the flour mixture 1 cup at a time to the bowl with the sweet potatoes, blending using a spatula. The mixture should slowly take on a doughy consistency; you will know it is ready once it forms into a large ball that is firm and moist, but does not stick to your fingers. (Add additional flour/arrowroot powder as necessary by the tablespoon until you reach the desired consistency.)

Transfer the dough to a clean surface lightly dusted with a bit of flour. Divide the dough into 6-7 smaller balls of approximately equal size. Using the palms of your hands, gently roll 1 of the dough balls back and forth until it takes on the shape of a long rope, about 16 inches long and 1/2 inch in diameter. Using a sharp knife, cut the rope into 1-inch pieces, and transfer to a parchment-lined plate. If you have a gnocchi board (like you see me use in the video) you can roll each gnocchi on the board to give it lines. The reason lines are put onto pasta is to help them “grab the sauce” more, so if you have a board, don’t skip this step! Repeat this process with the remaining dough balls until all pieces are on the plate (you can stack in layers and add more parchment in between). Place in the freezer for 20 minutes to allow gnocchi to firm.

Fill a large pot with water (approximately 4 quarts) and bring to a boil over high heat. While you wait for the water to boil, prepare the Butter Sage Sauce (see below).

Once the water is boiling, lower the heat to medium and place the desired number of gnocchi in the pot (this recipe is based on approximately 42 pieces of gnocchi, which will feed 2 adults and 2 children), stirring gently with a wooden spoon to be sure they do not stick together. They are cooked when they begin to rise to the surface. They cook fast (only 3-5 minutes!) so don’t leave them unattended after you drop them into the water. Using a slotted spoon, remove the gnocchi from the water as they rise and place them directly into the pan with the butter-sage sauce. Stir to coat well.

Sprinkle lightly with extra Pecorino Romano, if desired. Buon appetito!

For the Butter-Sage Sauce:

Place the ghee or butter in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. If using butter, you will begin to see brown flecks appear. Remove from heat and add sage leaves. (They should begin to turn crispy right away.) Stir and set aside.