Sweet Potato Gnocchi

We have had lots of emails recently requesting savoury recipes, so Katie whipped up this Sweet Potato Gnocchi with a delicious caramelised leek sauce and cashew nut cream.

We are always excited to have a new recipe which uses eczema-friendly ingredients from The Eczema Diet. After 15 years designing these recipes it was wonderful to have Katie, who worked with me at the Eczema Life Clinic, help with the new creations. My daughter and son were our recipe taste testers for this one (as we can count on them to give their honest opinions!) and it got a big thumbs up from everyone.

Just a note, you don't have to have eczema, TSW or dermatitis to enjoy our recipes, anyone can try them :)

My favourite addition to our Sweet Potato Gnocchi is the Caramelised Leek Sauce (which can be made either sweet or savoury). You could alternatively use Parsley Pesto from the Eczema Diet book. Pesto and gnocchi work brilliantly together. 

This Sweet Potato Gnocchi recipes makes a tasty dinner and can be used with many different eczema friendly ingredients to create a delicious and nourishing meal. We have used red cabbage (which is bursting with healthy anthocyanins) and green beans as they are both eczema-friendly vegetables. 

Health Benefits

Sweet Potato Gnocchi Recipe

• Preparation time: 30 minutes
• Cooking time: 45 minutes
• Serves 2 (you can double this recipe for a family)
• Salicylate level: low to moderate (sweet potato contains moderate salicylates - use peeled white potato if you want a low salicylate meal)
• Amine level: low (if using raw cashews, not roasted) 

Ingredients

• 1 very large sweet potato, skin kept on (remove it after baking)
• ½ cup of brown rice flour (or other flour of choice)
• ¼ cup of tapioca flour
• 1 teaspoon of quality fine sea salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder (optional or use fresh)
• Caramelised Leek Sauce (find recipe here) 
• Cashew Nut Cream (find recipe here) 
• Optional: 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of red cabbage, shredded
• 1 handful of fresh green string beans

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F) and line a baking tray with baking (parchment) paper.

Use a knife to puncture some holes in the sweet potato skin, cover the skin with a little oil (such as rice bran) and bake it whole on a tray until it is soft the whole way through. This will take about 45 minutes (if you are stuck for time you could halve or quarter the sweet potato before roasting it for about 35 minutes).

Test softness with a skewer or knife, remove from the oven and leave to cool down.

Meanwhile, sift together brown rice flour, tapioca flour, salt and garlic into bowl and mix them together.

When the sweet potato is cool enough to touch, take off the skin, scoop out a very full ½ cup of mash (or more). Place it into a large bowl and mash it well to remove all of the lumps.

Add half of the flour mixture to the sweet potato and knead in (see photo, below). It may seem like there is a lot of flour, however it will be used up.

Place the dough onto a clean bench or a chopping board and add the remaining flour and continue to knead though until the flour is mixed in. At this stage you can taste and add more salt or garlic powder if needed. (See pictures below)

Roll the mixture into a long snake like piece (see below) then cut it into gnocchi-sized pieces, about 2cm (1 inch) long.

Press individual pieces down slightly with a fork to make a pattern on the top (see next image).

Put the gnocchi onto a plate and place into the refrigerator to firm up while you prepare the Leek Sauce and Cashew Cream.

Then prepare the red cabbage and green beans (or the other ingredients you wish to serve with the gnocchi).

Bring a pot of water to the boil and using a large slotted spoon, gently place the gnocchi into the water. They should bounce to the top when ready - in about 7 minutes.

Add the green beans to blanch them in the last 1 minute of cooking.

Taste one piece of gnocchi and see if they need extra cooking to soften. When they no longer taste floury they are ready. Drain and then place them onto a plate.

Meanwhile, lightly fry the red cabbage on medium heat with a little oil until soft. 

How to serve 

We found the tastiest way to served it is with caramelised leeks, roasted garlic, chopped chives and Cashew Cream. Parsley pesto is great too.

Notes

• Left over dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the fridge to make gnocchi for another time.
• White peeled potato can be used in place of sweet potato.
• We have only tried the gnocchi using brown rice flour and tapioca, however different flours could be trialled if you wish to experiment!

Photos and styling: Sweet Potato Gnocchi by Karen Fischer; dough/prep images by Katie Layland; product images by Noel McLaughlin. Recipe by Katie Layland.

Products 

We recommend nutritionist Karen Fischer's low food chemical program (The Eczema Detox) along with additive-free supplements for skin health and wellbeing. Click on the images to view more details: