Technicolor Comfort Food with Purple Sweet Potatoes

Gnocchi are pillows of joy. I’ve been teaching gnocchi-making classes for over 10 years, to sold out crowds. People just love the idea of making their own gnocchi, and we all get to roll up our sleeves and make mountains of tender dumplings. What few people realize before coming to class is that you can make gnocchi out of just about anything. Take these Purple Sweet Potato Gnocchi.

Purple Sweet Potatoes Make Beautiful Gnocchi

You eat with your eyes, before a single bite is taken. And when you take a look at these brilliant purple, bite sized dumplings, you are taking in a visual feast. Their beauty is more than skin-deep, too, with a sweet, nutty flavor that gives a plain potato gnocchi some real competition.

The Stokes Purple is Perfect For Gnocchi

I’ve written before about my obsession with the Stokes Purple Sweet Potato. Like here: Purple Sweet Potato Fries with Avocado, and in these Quesadillas, or a Wrap Sandwich or even this recent post about Hasselback Purple Sweet Potatoes.

But there’s a very good reason to make gnocchi with this particular variety of sweet potato. It’s perfect for gnocchi because the texture is relatively dry and meaty. The more moisture a vegetable contains, like say, a butternut squash or an orange sweet potato, the more flour it takes to make the gnocchi dough. The more flour, the tougher and less flavorful the gnocchi will be.

Everyone will love it

Purple Means Antioxidants

So, not only are they show-stoppingly pretty, but they are extra flavorful and tender. The same pigment that makes them so gorgeous is also an antioxidant. Anthocyanins, the pigment that makes blueberries blue, gives the sweet potato superfood status. So far, scientists think that eating plenty of it will keep you a little safer from heart disease, cancer, dementia, and vision problems. So you might as well enjoy a delicious treat while keeping diseases at bay.

Brilliant and beautiful

A Good Gnocchi is a Tender Gnocchi

Gnocchi are such a simple, elemental food. A mash or puree of a vegetable or bean, bread, cheese, or grain, mixed with just enough flour to make a dough, then made into bite-sized dumplings and poached in simmering water. The dough pictured above shows the secret- just enough flour will make a dough without diluting the color.

It’s like playing with clay

Always make the dough a little on the moist side and then cook a tester gnoccho, before adding more flour. If the dumpling doesn’t fall apart and is tasty, you can go ahead and shape the rest. You can shape the gnocchi and wrap the whole tray, then refrigerate for a few days before cooking, too. Once cooked, any leftovers can be microwaved for a delicious second meal.

Once you try purple gnocchi, those plain white potato gnocchi will seem, well, pale by comparison.