Brown Butter Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Sausage and Kale

• servings: 2 servings

Ingredients

1 lb sweet potatoes (about 2 sweet potatoes)

1 egg yolk

150 g all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

4 sweet Italian sausage links (casing removed)

3 oz lacinato kale (chopped)

3 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

3 sage leaves

1/2 tsp red chili flakes (optional)

zest of half a lemon

salt + cracked black pepper

Directions

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Poke holes in the sweet potatoes with a fork. Then place them in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave the potatoes for about 8-10 minutes, flipping them half way through.

Line a sheet pan with paper towel. Once the sweet potatoes become fork tender, scoop out the flesh and transfer them to the sheet pan. Let the sweet potato cool down in the lined sheet pan for about 5 minutes. (The paper towel will help draw out the excess moisture from the sweet potato.)

Then rice or smash the potatoes and spread them out onto the lined sheet pan again for about 10 minutes to draw out any additional moisture.

Transfer the mashed sweet potato to a bowl. Then add the egg yolk and work the yolk into the sweet potato with a spoon or spatula. Then sift half the flour and all of the salt into the bowl. Combine everything with a spatula. Then sift the rest of the flour and combine everything again with the spatula until the dough comes together.

Flour your work surface and gently knead the dough a few times. Form the dough into a ball and lightly flour the top of the dough. TIP: It is important to not over knead the dough. Just a few gentle kneads is all that is required. If the dough is over kneaded, it will overwork the gluten which will then make the dough become sticky and gluey. Refer to my tips in the post above for further details.

Cut the dough ball into 6 equal pieces. Then roll out each piece of dough into a log that 3/4" in diameter. Then cut the log into 1-inch segments and then transfer the gnocchi onto a floured baking sheet to keep them from sticking together. Repeat until all the dough pieces have been rolled out and cut into 1" segments.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the gnocchi and boil until the gnocchi rises to the top of the water which should take about 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi to the pan to assemble the pasta.

Brown Butter Pasta Sauce with Sausage and Kale

TIP: To save time, make the pasta sauce while the water is boiling.

Set a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in the pan and then add the sweet Italian sausage. Smash the sausage into smaller pieces with a wooden spatula while cooking. Cook the sausage for about 6-7 minutes until they start to turn crisp and golden around the edges.

Then add the chopped kale and lemon zest and cook for an additional 2 minutes until the kale softens. Season with red chili flakes (optional), salt and black pepper. Once the kale is cooked, transfer the sausage and kale to a bowl and set aside.

In the same nonstick pan over medium-low heat, add the butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Brown the butter until it turns golden and starts releasing a nutty aroma. Then add the sage leaves to the brown butter and toast them for about 15-20 seconds until they become crispy.

Then transfer the cooked gnocchi into the brown butter and let them toast on one side over medium-low heat for about 1 minute.

Then add the sausage and kale back into the pan with the gnocchi and gently stir everything together. Season with salt, cracked black pepper and grated parmesan.

Plate the gnocchi and and add additional grated Parmesan. Serve immediately. Enjoy!