Yayy, Gnocchi! They are easy to make, now you know! Serve it with mascarpone cheese sauce, asparagus, herbs and some mushrooms for an utterly scrumptiois meal.
Wash, prick with a fork, and bake the potatoes at 200°C or 400°F for about 40-45 minutes to an hour, depending on the potato sizes. They need to be nice and tender. You may also boil them - just as you would do for a good potato mash.
The sweet potato will bake quicker so keep an eye on that. *
While the potatoes bake, place a pan on the stove on medium fire add a drizzle of oil and fry the pepper along with the turmeric and paprika powder. Blend this and set it aside. * This is optional for extra flavor and color.
When the potatoes are ready and baked, take them out of the oven and cut them into two. It helps with cooling as well as scooping the flesh out. Scoop out the potato flesh into a bowl and mash. Add the egg, salt, pepper, blended pepper, and most of the flour. Knead into a dough hopefully, that’s not too sticky. If it is, add a little more flour as you go along.
Cut the dough and roll it into long ropes (approx 1 cm thick in diameter). Cut into ½inch (approx 13 pieces). Dust them with flour and then shake any excess off. You may use a gnocchi board to make them look like the real ones with that nice ridges. I didn’t. I like them crazy shapes.
Cook them into small batches 10-12 at once in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. You will know they’re ready when they start floating. Remove and set aside. Continue doing this until they’re all done. Place them in a colander so they drain any excess water.
To make the sauce:
Place a pan on medium fire, and add the chopped garlic.
Add tomato sauce, 1 pinch salt and allow to simmer for about 5 min.
Add the dried Italian herbs and the mascarpone cheese. Reduce the sauce for a further 5 min on low fire.
To assemble the dish:
Place a pan over medium fire, and add 1 tablespoon butter. Add the sliced mushrooms. Cook for 1-2 minutes tossing occasionally.
Add the shredded peppers and cook for 2 more minutes, followed by the chopped asparagus and the drained gnocchi. Give it all a good old toss again and a shimmy. This should be for a good 2 minutes.
Add the mascarpone sauce and the gnocchi, toss a couple of times, and... voilà! You’ve got a wonderful dish.
Serve with a nice sprinkle of fresh parsley or any herb you may like.
Notes
* To decrease the time of cooking the potatoes you can microwave them (if you’re using one) for about 7-9 minutes or so, again depending on the size of the potatoes and the power you use.