Hazelnut Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Brown Butter, Chanterelle Mushrooms, and Sage

If you follow a Paleo diet and miss pillowy, rich gnocchi, this dish will make your day—sweet potatoes fill in nicely for the starchy spuds in the original. Gnocchi pairs well with pretty much any sauce, but this fragrant combination of butter and sage is a classic.

Hazelnut Sweet Potato Gnocchi With Brown Butter, Chanterelle Mushrooms, and Sage

Yield: 4 servings
Active Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the gnocchi:
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
2 1/2 cups hazelnut flour
1/2 cup arrowroot flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon hazelnut oil

For the sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups chanterelle mushrooms
1/2 cup whole sage leaves
1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped
Freshly grated nutmeg for garnish

Instructions

Make the gnocchi
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prick sweet potatoes all over with fork, cover with aluminum foil, and roast in oven 1 hour.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the hazelnut flour, arrowroot flour, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Scoop out inside flesh of roasted sweet potatoes into a large bowl and combine with egg and oil. Fold in the dry ingredients and combine well.

Roll the dough out into a log on a surface lightly covered with arrowroot flour and cut into 1/2-inch thick pieces and roll between hands to shape. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the gnocchi; wait until they float to the surface, remove from pot and set aside.

Make the sauce
Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté garlic, mushrooms, and whole sage and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until the butter develops brown flecks and smells nutty. Watch it closely to keep the butter solids from burning. Stir in cooked gnocchi, remove from heat, and serve with hazelnuts sprinkled and nutmeg freshly grated on top.

Photo credit: Paul Delmont