Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Maple Bacon Butter Sauce
Anthony
Sweet Potato Gnocchi fried in Maple Bacon fat and Butter is something worthy of your personal love and affection. The fried exterior is hard and crispy while the interior is soft and pillowy. The sweetness of the sweet potato and a hint of nutmeg with maple bacon... I think I've said enough.Serve the Sweet Potato Gnocchi with finely chopped parsley, some parmesan reggiano, lots of maple bacon butter sauce, and crispy bits of fried bacon.
Bake the sweet potatoes in a preheated 400°F oven for 45 minutes or until a knife can easily pierce the center. Remove from oven, cut in half and allow to cool to room temp.
Spoon the potato in to a ricer and rice in to a large mixing bowl. Add the salt, a few grates of fresh nutmeg (to taste) and a 1/4 of the flour at a time and gently fold in to the potato. Use as little as flour as possible to bring the dough together in to a manageable ball.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.
Divide dough in to smaller balls and roll out in to a one inch log. The dough should be floured well enough to prevent sticking to the surface but not so much that your hands can't grip it. Divide in to half to one inch size pieces. Set aside and dust with flour to prevent sticking. Roll gnocchi on the tines of a dinner fork to form divots for the sauce to stick. Set aside on a well floured surface.
In small batches, boil the gnocchi until it floats to the top of the water. Set aside on a towel to drain excess liquid.
Chop and fry 4 strips of maple bacon in a large sauce pan. Transfer bacon to paper towel to drain and reserve the bacon fat. Clean pan.
Add 1 tablespoon of bacon and 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan and heat over medium high heat. Fry a batch of the gnocchi for one minute per side. Transfer the gnocchi to a serving plate and spoon some of the pan sauce on top.
Garnish with crispy fried maple bacon, parsley and grated cheese. Repeat with remaining batches of gnocchi.
Notes
Note that I did not add any extra maple syrup to this recipe. This particular bacon had enough maple flavor for me that I wasn't going to add any. You could stir in a couple teaspoons of maple syrup to the pan sauce just before serving.