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Did you all have a good weekend? Ours were filled with lots of naps and colds, except I’m the only one who has stayed healthy! I’m certainly pumping in the vitamins, doing my best to dodge the germs! So far so good! Hopefully, it’ll stay that way! We also were able to host ANOTHER Thanksgiving, this time with the entire Brennan crew and some family friends. My contribution was Wild Rice & Bacon stuffing, my favorite! I love Thanksgiving, but I am all turkey’d out!
So here is a recipe that is the farthest I could get from Thanksgiving that is a result of having some leftover sweet potatoes. I’ve always wanted to make sweet potato gnocchi, so one day during my daughter’s nap time, I bit the bullet and made a batch. I found them to be a little heavier than plain potato gnocchi, but equally delicious with a slightly sweet taste. Which paired nicely with this creamy Italian Sausage Alfredo.
I really don’t expect you all to make the sweet potato gnocchi because it’s so labor-intensive, but this sauce is really simple to make. Ridiculously simply, actually, because I use a jar of alfredo sauce! {Sometimes, it’s just on sale and I can’t resist. I usually use Bertolli brand alfredo or four cheese rosa alfredo.} This pasta sauce tastes great on plain rigatoni, penne, or any other pasta–not just the gnocchi. It’s filled with sausage, onion, garlic, mushrooms, spinach, alfredo sauce, and some extra spices. It also doesn’t take all day to make either. Maybe 30 minutes at most! And let me tell you, it’s straight-up delicious with fresh tomatoes, basil, and parmesan cheese. I love the freshness of these toppings with the rest of this hearty dish.
I loved it and so did Gord. My in-laws weren’t too thrilled because it was so ‘out there’ and ‘different’ but we ate it up and Gord took the leftovers to work for lunch the next day. All in all a great successful dish!
More Alfredo Recipes to Try!
- Homemade Alfredo Sauce
- Baked Ravioli Recipe with Brown Butter Alfredo
- Chicken Bacon Alfredo Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
- Chicken Alfredo Pizza
- Roasted Red Pepper & Goat Cheese Alfredo
Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Italian Sausage Alfredo
Ingredients
For the Sweet Potato Gnocchi-
- 1 cup cooked pureed sweet potato or yams
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter
For the Italian Sausage Alfredo-
- 1 lb Italian Sausage
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- 2 cups chopped mushrooms
- 2 cups lightly packed spinach chopped
- 15 oz alfredo sauce (1 jar) or four cheese rosa sauce
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt & pepper to taste
- fresh diced tomatoes
- parmesan cheese
- fresh basil
Instructions
- For the sweet potato gnocchi- In a large bowl, stir pureed sweet potato, egg and salt together until combined. Slowly incorporate flour by hand (do not use a stand mixer) until just combined.
- Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Flour each piece liberally as well as a clean work surface. Roll each piece into a long rope about 12 inches for fatter gnocchi or 16 inches for thinner gnocchi. Cut rope of dough into gnocchi pieces about 1/2 inch per piece.
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper and place gnocchi onto prepared pan. Dust with more flour to prevent sticking. Repeat with remaining dough. *If you'd like to roll gnocchi down the back side of a fork to give them grooves for a more traditional look, then feel free!
- If making this gnocchi in advance, place baking sheet into freezer for 2-3 hours or until frozen solid. Remove gnocchi from pan into a plastic freezer bag. Store until ready to cook.
- To cook, bring large pot of very salty water to rolling boil. Drop gnocchi into hot water working in small batches. Stir pasta around to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pot or each other. Cook about 3 minutes or until gnocchi floats to the top. Remove with a slotted spoon into a large bowl and stir in 1/2 tablespoon butter to coat hot gnocchi. Repeat until all is cooked. Set aside.
- To make the Italian Sausage Alfredo, heat a large heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat. Break italian sausage into hot pan and stir continuously to break apart and cook thoroughly.
- Remove sausage from pan into a paper towel lined bowl. Set aside. Pan should still have some sausage drippings left in the bottom. Saute onion in pan until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic, mushrooms and spinach. Cook another 3 minutes to wilt spinach and allow garlic to get fragrant.
- Reduce heat to medium low and stir in jar of pasta sauce. Pour heavy cream into empty jar of pasta sauce, replace lid and shake to 'clean it out'. Pour cream into pan. Stir in remaining seasonings and cooked sausage. Cook 10 minutes. Serve sauce hot over top sweet potato gnocchi or plain pasta and top with fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and parmesan cheese.
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I love gnocchi and can’t wait to try this sweet potato version.
I love gnocchi, and am always trying to think of new ways to eat it! Great idea!
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Your dish looks great. Hope you stay healthy and avoid getting a cold 🙂
Love this meal!