Spinach + Sweet Potato Crispy Gnocchi

This weekend, I was fortunate enough to get an invite from Stacy of Paleo Parents to go berry pickin’ with a fun group including The Domestic Man and VA is for Hunter-Gatherers. While I had been fortunate enough to visit with Stacy, Matt, and their 3 sweet boys before this weekend, I had not yet met the other local bloggers in person (despite following them both).  So needless to say I was pretty revved to meet and mingle with other like-minded people as most of my neighborhood pals think of me as some weird foodie who is always concocting something random (ok so maybe it’s not that far from the truth).

We drove an hour from home to Larriland Farms in Maryland and had our pick of blueberries, strawberries, and spinach. The kids had a blast picking strawberries and despite needing a tutorial from Russ (The Domestic Man), we finally *mostly* mastered spinach picking too. It sure looks different than the organic baby spinach we buy trimmed and washed from the store! It was a good lesson to say the least. I really enjoyed meeting Brent and Heather of VA is for Hunter-Gatherers and was taken aback by their kindness to take our 3 kids down to feed the llamas and goats as if we were all old friends. It was a great day and a feel-good few hours.

So after reveling in the day’s events, I realized that I had absolutely zero plan for my freshly picked produce. I realize I didn’t really HAVE to make anything fancy, but I always have fun experimenting – it’s like a lil project. So as I stared down at those big leafy greens, it came to me….Spinach + Sweet Potato Crispy Gnocchi!!! So this is my own take on gnocchi, I tried out a few different methods and in the end this one worked best!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups chopped fresh spinach
• 1 cup cooked, mashed sweet potato
• 1/4 cup arrowroot flour
• 2 tablespoons water chestnut flour
• 1 tablespoon coconut flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic sea salt (or more)
• Extra water chestnut flour for dusting
• Avocado oil (or alternative oil) for pan frying

1. First wilt spinach in a small saucepan over low/medium heat – it will only take a minute or two
2. Remove spinach from heat and squeeze excess moisture out, using towel or hands
3. Bring a stockpot of water to boiling
4. Next combine mashed sweet potato, spinach, water chestnut flour, arrowroot, coconut flour, and garlic sea salt in a bowl until well combined (using your hands helps to really incorporate ingredients)
5. Your mixture should be a workable dough, if it is not you may add additional water chestnut or coconut flour
6. Once it is more dough-like, roll it out like a snake on a piece of parchment paper
7. Now take a knife and make slices of the long piece of dough – I was able to make 20+ gnocchi pieces with my batch
8. Reshape slightly if necessary
9. Drop small batches into boiling water and remove as they begin to float to the top (a sign they are cooked through)
10. Preheat a small amount of oil in a skillet
11. Once all gnocchi pieces have been boiled, dredge them in additional water chestnut flour and panfry until nicely browned
12. Serve alone or with desired sauce! (I made a quick creamy garlic sauce by heating coconut milk, sea salt, and crushed garlic and drizzled it on top)
13. Note: You do not have to panfry these but they ARE better that way. Just boiled they tend to be slightly gummy (more so than regular gnocchi, because of the lack of white flour)
14. Note: there is no exact sub for water chestnut flour – it is distinct in both flavor and texture. You may try substituting, but doing so may alter the recipe (sometimes in a good way!)
15. Note: Water chestnut flour is readily available and very cost effective through Asian Markets – look there locally first!

Shared with Gluten Free Wednesdays