Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Brown Butter Hazelnut Sauce & Whipped Ricotta

I truly think this might be one of my favorite dishes I've ever made. It is SO tasty and comforting, and will make you feel like you're eating a high dollar meal from a fancy restaurant that would have cost you $32.99 if you went out instead of rolling up your sleeves. Plus.. homemade gnocchi is not nearly as intimidating as you may think, and it's one of those things that's just hands-down, no comparison, monumentally better homemade than store-bought (which I don't say about everything... lookin' at you, garlic-in-a-jar).

I hope you love as much as I did because I'm really tooting my own horn with this one.

For the Gnocchi

• 2 sweet potatoes

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup of ricotta

• 2 1/2 cups of flour

• 1/4 cup grated parm

• 2 five-finger pinches of salt

For the Sawce

• 3/4 stick of salted butter

• Fresh sage leaves

• 1/3 cup chopped hazelnuts

Make it Happen

Rinse and peel your sweet potatoes. If you have an Instant Pot, cook them in there (1 cup of water, steamer basket, potatoes, pressure cook for 18), but if you don't, just poke a few holes in them and pop em in the oven for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Or you can also boil them over the stovetop until tender (cutting them into halves or quarters speeds this process up a bit).

Once they're done, carefully remove from pot and mash them in a bowl until there are no clumps. Let cool slightly. Add the ricotta, egg, flour, parm, and salt and mix until just combined. The dough should be sticky, but if it's too sticky to handle, just add some flour little by little.

Flour a clean surface to place the dough on. Sprinkle some more flour over the ball of dough and divide it into 4 pieces. Take one of the 4 dough balls and roll it out into a rope-like shape, then cut 1 inch pieces all the way across. Repeat until all the dough is used, or save the other dough balls for a rainy day. Traditionally, gnocchi has little "lines" or indentations on them - you can do this by gently rolling each little nugget down the back side of a fork, but it's not totally necessary.

Now, for the ricotta cloud. This step is super simple, but you want it ready to go before you cook the gnocchi. Scoop whatever is left from the tub of ricotta you used to make the gnocchi into a bowl and mix with a hand mixer until whipped and fluffy (about 15 seconds). This little treasure of a step was inspired by my FAVE food blogger, Half Baked Harvest, and trust me - you do not want to skip it.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add your gnocchi (about one two handfuls at a time). They're done once they all float to the top (2-3ish minutes). Meanwhile (while the water is coming to a boil), let's get saucey. Melt your butter in a large skillet over medium high heat until it starts to foam and brown. Add the sage leaves and chopped hazlenuts - let cook for one minute - then add the gnocchi one single layer at a time. Sprinkle a bit pinch of salt over the browned butter sauce with each batch of gnocchi. Cook for about 3 minutes stirring and flipping gnocchi sparingly so they have a chance to get crispy on each side.

Plate by spooning your whipped ricotta onto a plate, then add your gnocchi on top. Sprinkle with fresh parmesan, cracked pepper, and a pinch of flakey sea salt. Garnish with a couple of the crispy sage leaves, and enjoy your meal, my friend!