sweet potato gnocchi with basil cream sauce

Did you like playing with Play Dough as a kid? Then this creamy, autumnal dish is right up your alley. Making gnocchi is easier--and more fun--than you think. Serve with a chilled Beaujolais.


SWEET POTATO GNOCCHI WITH BASIL CREAM SAUCE
6 servings

Gnocchi
2 large sweet potatoes
2 T Earth Balance
1-2 cups flour

Basil Cream Sauce
1 T Earth Balance
1 T flour
1 cup soy milk
1 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp miso paste
1/4 cup basil leaves, minced*
Salt, pepper to taste

* Variation: Use sage leaves instead of basil

Make gnocchi: Microwave sweet potatoes until soft--about 6 minutes. Using a potato ricer squeeze filling from the sweet potatoes into a large bowl. Mash with Earth Balance and then add about 1/2 cup of flour. Work through with your hands, adding additional flour 1 T at a time, until the dough is no longer sticky. Roll out a handful of dough out at a time into a 1/2 wide rope. Using a knife, cut rope into 1/4 inch nuggets.

Hold a nugget in the palm of your hand, and roll against the tines of a fork to create grooves. [These indentations not only beautify the gnocchi--they also hold the sauce.]






Store finished gnocchi on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, refrigerated, until ready to cook.

Make sauce: In medium saucepan, melt Earth Balance. Sprinkle in flour and stir with a wire whisk to make a roux. Slowly pour in 1 cup soy milk, whisking constantly. Sprinkle in the nutritional yeast flakes and miso, again, whisking until smooth. Turn heat down to low.




Meanwhile, cook gnocchi in plenty of salted boiling water. When gnocchi are done--in about 3 minutes--they will float to the top.







Chiffonade the basil and add to the cream sauce just before you add the gnocchi. Gently remove gnocchi from water and place in cream sauce. Toss delicately. Serve with salt, pepper and vegan parmesan.