Recipe | Kūmara gnocchi with burnt sage butter & pecorino

We often cook this meal with music and a dry Riesling on ice. The process is relaxed, the flavours rich, and the evening is perfectly set for making memories.

You can even make the gnocchi dough in advance, so your evening’s cooking consists solely of finishing the dish and browning the aromatic sage butter.

Serves 4

Ingredients

500g kūmara

1 cup good ricotta

½ cup grated pecorino or Parmesan, plus extra for serving

1½ tsp salt

1¼ cups plain flour, plus extra for

dusting

olive oil

knob of butter, plus 150g

20 sage leaves

lemon zest, to serve

GF option: swap the flour for gluten-free flour.

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Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C fan bake. Line a tray with baking paper.
Place the kūmara on the lined tray and prick with a fork a few times. Bake for an hour or so, turning once. Once cooked and cool enough to handle, carefully scoop out flesh into a large mixing bowl and mash with a fork. Mix through ricotta, pecorino, salt and flour, then transfer the dough onto a cutting board and knead for one minute. Add more flour if needed. You should have a compact yet soft and slightly moist dough. Be careful not to over-knead.

Quarter the dough, then roll each piece into a sausage about 30cm long and cut into even, bite-sized chunks. Lightly press using the back of a fork, then set aside on baking paper. You can do this a day ahead and store the gnocchi in the fridge.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Working in batches, drop the gnocchi in and cook for 2–4 minutes until they rise to the surface, then scoop out using a slotted spoon.

Set up a plate lined with a paper towel. Add the oil and knob of butter to a large frying pan. Fry the gnocchi for 4–6 minutes, turning often until golden and crisp on the outside. Remove gnocchi from the pan, and transfer to your paper towel-lined plate.

To make the brown butter, melt the 150g butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook, swirling the pan so it browns evenly. When it begins to sizzle add the sage leaves and continue swirling the pan. It will foam and the milk solids will start to brown, and the leaves will crisp up. Remove from the heat. The process should take 3–4 minutes.

Add the gnocchi back to the pan and gently toss through. Serve with freshly grated pecorino and lemon zest.

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