Purple sweet potato gnocchi

 

Homemade vegan gnocchi could be a good Christmas dish too. It would be something a bit different. I made these cheerful coloured gnocchi from a roasted purple sweet potato and they were so nice. I served them with crispy sage butter and a pomegranate salad on the side. Have a look at my easy recipe below.

Ingredients

1 large purple sweet potato

300 g wheat flour

75 g potato flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Roast the sweet potato in the oven and let it cool. Remove the flesh and mash it.

Mix the wheat and potato flour gradually with the sweet potato to make a firm mix. Season the mix with salt and also add vegetable oil.

Shape gnocchi from the dough and cook them in boiling water. They are done when they float on the surface.

I also fried my gnocchi in some oil and butter mix.

Serve with your favourite sauce and sides and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Sweet potato and pumpkin gnocchi

 

It’s almost time for Halloween, so I wanted to share a very seasonal gnocchi recipe with you. I made the orange coloured gnocchi with roasted sweet potato and crown prince squash. The squash can of course be substituted with other squash types or a pumpkin. The gnocchi are also plantbased.

Have you all been eating loads of squashes and pumpkins and are you also excited for Halloween? I have a couple of carved pumpkins on my balcony, so I’m getting pretty much into the mood.

 

Sweet potato and pumpkin gnocchi

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato

¼ crown prince squash

300 g wheat flour

75 g potato flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Roast the sweet potato as a whole and the squash piece in the oven until done. Mash them and let them cool down. Mix the sweet potato and squash mash with the flours, salt and oil and lightly knead into a firm dough.

Shape gnocchi from the dough and boil them in water until they float on the surface. You can additionally fry them in little butter or oil, if you like. It adds some additional firmness and depth of flavour.

I served the gnocchi with crispy browned sage butter, cheese and side salad. What would you serve it with? And happy Halloween to all!

 

Your VegHog

Gnocchi with browned sage butter

 

Gnocchi is really nice summer food and these days I like to make my easy 5-ingredient vegan gnocchi. The texture is good and firm and I’m able to cook the gnocchi easily without them breaking up.

This time I also had a handful of leftover spinach, so I added it to the dough. The gnocchi can of course be seasoned with a number of different vegetables or herbs, and it can be made from sweet potatoes as well. See the ingredients and method below for my recipe.

 

Ingredients

700 g potatoes

300 g wheat flour

75 g potato flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil

 

Method

Cook the potatoes, peel and mash them. Set them to side to cool down.

Mix the wheat and potato flour gradually with the potatoes to make a firm mix. Season it with salt and also add vegetable oil.

Shape gnocchi from the dough, give them a fork mark and cook them in boiling water. They are done when they float on the surface.

You can also additionally fry the gnocchi after the boiling to make them even firmer.

Heat butter in a pan and add sage leaves. Cook until the sage leaves are crispy and the butter is browned. Serve it with the gnocchi. I also served some lamb’s lettuce and sprouts on the side.

 

Your VegHog

 

Purple sweet potato gnocchi

Another week has gone by very fast, and it has been another week of cooking a lot of food and pottering around the household. Some garden centres are open, so we managed to buy a few bigger plant pots. I have bought a red currant bush and a blueberry bush. We might not get any berries in the first year, but I just love having them on the balcony. I’m very excited that I can do some balcony gardening again. Some of you may remember my balcony from Southampton, where I liked to grow tomatoes, bell peppers, chillies, courgettes, strawberries etc. Of course the space was much more limited there, so I’m very happy about my new growing area.

I had some nice purple sweet potatoes from the market, so I made vegan purple sweet potato gnocchi. I fried the gnocchi in vegan butter with crispy sage leaves and served them with fresh lambs lettuce on the side. That is always a lovely combination. The gnocchi get such a deep purple colour from the sweet potatoes, so it’s a nice splash of colour on any plate.

This recipe makes quite a lot of gnocchi, it feeds four I would say, when there are also some sides or other courses. But I think it’s good to make a bigger batch and save some for later or even freeze some for days when you don’t feel like cooking or need a quick lunch.

Purple sweet potato gnocchi

Ingredients

700 g purple sweet potatoes

300 g wheat flour

75 g potato flour

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Roast the sweet potatoes in the oven, remove the skins and mash the potatoes. Let them cool down.

Mix the sweet potato mash with the flours, salt and oil to make a firm dough.

Shape small gnocchi from the dough and press each of them with a fork.

Boil the gnocchi in water. They are done when they float on the surface.

Frying the gnocchi is optional, but I like them when they are also fried. Serve them with the sauce and salad of your choice and enjoy!

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Your VegHog

Beetroot gnocchi with marinated portobello mushrooms

The weekend has gone by so fast and I'm not sure, if I got anything done during it. At least I've returned to blogging after a little Christmas break, so that's good. I've also cooked and baked a lot this weekend. Today I want to share another vegan dish with you. This dish was our New Year's Eve's feast. After many roast dinners and Christmas food, I felt like something different and thought that homemade gnocchi would be nice.

These gnocchi are vegan and this recipe makes a gnocchi portion for four. I added some potato flour to the dough to make them stick better together and the end result was very firm and bouncy gnocchi. I only could have used more beetroot for a more vibrant colour, as these turned out rather salmon coloured than proper pink from beetroot. They were tasty though, and went down well with the marinated portobelli. I marinated the mushroom slices in olive oil, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper and pan-fried them before serving.

Beetroot gnocchi

Ingredients

700 g potatoes

300 g wheat flour

75 g potato flour

1 beetroot

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

Cook the potatoes, peel and mash them. Set them to side to cool down.

Chop the beetroot and cook it in water, then purée it in a blender. Add a little bit of water (about ¼ cup) to make a bit more liquid mix. Mix it in to the potatoes.

Mix the wheat and potato flour gradually with the potatoes to make a firm mix. Season it with salt and also add vegetable oil.

Shape gnocchi from the dough, give them a fork mark and cook them in boiling water. They are done when they float on the surface.

I additionally fried the gnocchi in vegan butter, but that's optional. I just prefer fried gnocchi to give it some more bite and colour.

Serve with the sides of your choice and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Kale gnocchi with crispy sage butter

I got the idea for this wonderfully green dish from Mat Follas' cookbook Vegetable Perfection. Mat writes about Kale gnocchi with kale crisps (p. 38-39), and I was very much inspired by this recipe, but made my gnocchi slightly differently, so I'm sharing my own version below. I thought that it was a great idea using the nutty kale in gnocchi, instead of the usual spinach.

I served my portion with crispy sage butter, which is one of my all time favourite gnocchi sauces. Additionally I made a tomato-garlic sauce and a baked cheese twirl from vegetarian pasta cheese. Like Mat, I also made some kale crisps to be served on the side. I just tossed mine in little olive oil, smoked paprika and sea salt, and baked them crispy. All components went so well together, and my gnocchi held nicely their shape, so I was very pleased with this dish.

Kale gnocchi

Adapted from Kale gnocchi with kale crisps by Mat Follas, serves 4

700 g baking potatoes

100 g kale

2 egg yolks

1 cup wheat flour

½ tsp salt

Method

Bake the potatoes in the oven until soft. Once they are cooled down, remove the potatoes from the skins and mash.

Purée the kale into a smooth paste.

Combine the ingredients for the dough and knead. Add more flour of needed.

Wrap the dough in cling film and let rest in the fridge for about an hour.

Shape long sticks from the dough, cut into about 2 cm long pieces and press lightly with a fork. Repeat this for the whole dough until all gnocchi have been shaped.

Bring water to boil in a large pot and add the gnocchi. They are done after a few minutes when they float on the surface.

Before serving I fried the gnocchi a little bit in the sage butter. This is optional, but it does give them a nice flavour and a slightly chewier texture.

Serve the gnocchi with the sides and enjoy!

I want to share this green recipe with this month's Eat Your Greens, which Shaheen is hosting.

Have a nice Sunday!

Your VegHog

Gnocchi with heirloom tomatoes and burrata

Today has been a very crazy day at work and I just arrived back home, about five hours later than planned. I was obviously hoping to be able to post something a little bit earlier, but if I write this quickly, I might just be able to post this when it's still Thursday.

So, the other day I made once again a simple gnocchi and tomato dish. Gnocchi or pasta with quickly fried fresh tomatoes and garlic with some added mozzarella or burrata are normally my absolute weekday meal favourites. This sort of dishes are so quick to make, yet they are filling and contain all the good things. I added some burrata to it this time, although I normally use mozzarella.

For this dish I just cooked some shop bought gnocchi and quickly fried the tomatoes in a hot pan. I also added some lightly cooked garlic, fresh basil leaves and drizzled some good quality olive oil on the top. Then I served the tomatoes with the burrata and gnocchi. This was perhaps a bit more posh version of this weekday favourite of mine.

I really hope to be home earlier tomorrow to be able to post another tomato recipe. Today my only worry while getting home, was about my Tomato Festival!

Have a nice Friday!

Your VegHog

Spinach and mushroom gnocchi

I really like the combination of earthy mushrooms with potato gnocchi. To this dish I added spinach and white wine to go with the mushrooms and gnocchi and it was so nice. My partner started making this sort of a gnocchi dish a few years ago and in the meanwhile I have also adapted it. There are still little differences when each of us makes this, but it's always tasty. I like this as a refreshing change to the normal kind of pasta and gnocchi combinations and can only recommend it. Have a look at the recipe below. Here I made a large batch for four people.

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves

300 g chestnut mushrooms

2 tbsp olive oil

Handful of toasted pine nuts

100 ml dry white wine

Salt to taste

Ground black pepper to taste

1 tbsp vegetable stock powder

100 g aged Havarti

200 g spinach

700 g potato gnocchi

Method

Chop the garlic finely and slice the mushrooms. Start cooking them in olive oil. Cook them for a few minutes and add the pine nuts and white wine.

Season with salt, ground black pepper and vegetable stock powder.

Grate the cheese in the meanwhile and cook the gnocchi.

Add the spinach leaves to the mushrooms, just until they wilt. Then also add the gnocchi to the pan.

Serve the dish with cheese and enjoy!

Your VegHog

Spinach gnocchi with roasted tomatoes, pine nuts and mozzarella

Here is only a quick post for a quick weekday meal, as I'm having a busy week once again. Hopefully I can cook and post more accomplished dishes soon. Today's dish is spinach gnocchi with roasted tomatoes, pine nuts and mozzarella. I really enjoy this kind of dishes as weekday dinners and in a bit smaller scale as work lunches.

The dish is quick to make because the gnocchi are shop bought and everything else can be tossed easily together.

I roasted the tomatoes, but they can also be fried in a hot pan. Roasting them leaves you time to do the other preparations in the meanwhile.

I fried finely chopped onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, then added the roasted tomatoes and toasted pine nuts to the pan and seasoned the mix lightly with salt and pepper.

Once the gnocchi were cooked, I just mixed everything together and served with some mozzarella balls and grated vegetarian pasta cheese on the top.

It's such an easy dish and saves much time on busy weekdays. Add some fresh basil leaves, if you happen to have them around and it's perfect!

Have further a nice week!

Your VegHog

Gnocchi with tomatoes and pine nuts

Here's just a very quick meal, gnocchi with tomatoes, pine nuts, basil and mozzarella quickly tossed together in a pan and served with garlic bread. I love this kind of quick meals when there isn't much time or strength to cook. I don't know why, but I'm extremely drained today. I could have fallen asleep while walking several times today. I'm not quite with it today, but let's hope it's only a severe case of Monday blues and I will be a bit more energetic tomorrow. I can't even write more right now, better luck tomorrow. I'll soon be off to bed.

Have a great week!

Your VegHog

Gnocchi with red pesto

So my theme week The VegHog's Tomato Festival is still going on and I'm not tired of tomatoes yet. I now made smoky red pesto with gnocchi. What makes it suitable to the theme, are the oak smoked tomatoes that helped to make the red pesto, and I also served a small tomato and mozzarella salad on the side. If you are unable to get the oak smoked tomatoes, the pesto can also be made with sundried tomatoes. If you then want to add smokiness, using oak smoked Cheddar could help there. I liked this red pesto very much and will be making it soon again, it's such a nice change from green pestos. Here is today's recipe. 

Red pesto:

80 g oak smoked tomatoes + smoked oil (from the tomatoes)

Handful of fresh basil

50 g pine nuts

30 g grated vegetarian pasta cheese

1 garlic clove

Other ingredients:

600 g gnocchi

1 large heirloom tomato

125 g mozzarella

Fresh basil

Balsamic vinegar

Olive oil

Salt

Ground black pepper

Grated vegetarian pasta cheese

Method

Make the pesto first by puréeing the ingredients.

Cook the gnocchi and chop the salad ingredients.

Dress the salad and mix the cooked gnocchi with the pesto.

Sprinkle cheese on the top and serve.

What an easy and quick weekday meal this is, but I would gladly also eat it on a weekend.

Have you been cooking with tomatoes this week?

Your VegHog

Gnocchi with brown sage butter

This dish could belong to a series called something like “Quicker than a ready-meal” or “Cheaper than a ready-meal”, as I think that both claims are true. However it's a very tasty dish and I really enjoy it every now and again, not just on weekdays. Gnocchi and brown sage butter are a great match, but they can be a bit heavy, so a fresh side salad is always a nice addition to those, and the components of the salad can always vary. Here is how I made today's dish.

All you need is:

A bunch of fresh sage

50 g butter

500 g gnocchi

Vegetarian pasta cheese

Mixed salad leaves

Salad dressing (Here I used my basic pomegranate molasses dressing)

The salad and salad dressing can be prepared first. Just take your favourite simple side salad, or whatever fresh ingredients you happen to have at hand.

Heat the butter in a pan at moderate temperature. The butter must not get too hot and burn. We need some browning, though. Put the sage leaves into the butter and mix occasionally. The brown sage butter is done when the butter has browned a little golden brown and the sage leaves are crispy.

At the same time cook the gnocchi in boiling water until they float on the surface. This only takes a few minutes.

Pour the sage butter onto the gnocchi, sprinkle the grated pasta cheese on the top and serve them with a side salad, and incredibly it's all done!

Enjoy!

Your VegHog

Spinach and mushroom gnocchi

Monday is almost over and I feel like a winner already, as it was a very long and a very busy day. I just want to relax now. Anyway the recipe that I'm posting today is for an easy meal for weekdays, and I find myself quite often making such dishes. It's quick and convenient after a long day, but also very tasty and made with fresh ingredients. I used of course ready made gnocchi, as couldn't be bothered to make my own. Maybe I'll make some soon again, who knows.

Okay, so here's the recipe for easy spinach and mushroom gnocchi.

Ingredients

1 kg gnocchi

200 g baby leaf spinach

250 g closed cup chestnut mushrooms

2 shallots

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt

Black pepper

Nutmeg

Fresh basil

Vegetarian pasta cheese

Method

Chop the shallots and garlic and slice the mushrooms.

Start cooking the shallots and garlic in olive oil until soft and add the mushroom slices to the pan.

Cook for a further 5 minutes at medium heat.

Add the spinach and cook until the leaves are wilted.

Season the mix with salt, pepper, nutmeg and basil to taste.

Cook the gnocchi in salt water for a couple of minutes until they float on the surface.

Serve the gnocchi with the spinach and mushrooms and some veggie pasta cheese shavings on the top. You can add a side salad, if you wish. I just served some cherry tomato halves on the side.

Enjoy your week!

Your VegHog