Julie Smoragiewicz (Rapid City, South Dakota)
Serves 8–10
These hearty and savory dumplings reflect the flavors of the prairie and harvest ingredients. This recipe was developed for young ranch families.
2 pounds sweet potatoes
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, whisked
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cups plus ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter
4 shallots or 1 medium-sized mild onion, finely chopped
4–5 leaves fresh sage
4 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
Bake the sweet potatoes at 425°F for an hour or until fork-tender. Remove the potatoes from the oven and cool to room temperature. Peel the potatoes and press through a potato ricer or medium sieve.
Place egg and egg yolk in a food processor that is fitted with a dough blade. Add softened butter, salt, pepper, and sweet potatoes, and combine. Add flour, ¾ cup at a time, and pulse just enough to incorporate (over-processing can result in tough dumplings/gnocchi).
Remove the dough from the processor and form into a large ball. Dust in flour as needed. Allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into baseball-sized pieces and roll into a rope about ½-inch in diameter. Cut the rope into ½-inch-long pieces. Dust in flour. Using the tines of a fork, press down on the small pieces of dough, pulling the fork toward you as you press down. The dough will curl with the fork marks inside the curl. Fold the curl backward so the curl is on the outside. This step deviates from traditional eastern European dumplings and follows the Italian gnocchi preparation to create more surface area on the dumplings, allowing them to cook more quickly and absorb more of the sage-butter sauce.
At this point, the dumplings can be placed in a single layer on a large sheet pan and frozen. Place the frozen dumplings in a zip bag and return to the freezer.
Melt one stick of butter in a large frying pan. Add shallots, and sauté until translucent. Add chopped sage leaves (reserve a few for garnish), either whole or in thin slices, and apple slices. Sauté until the apples are tender.
While the apples are sautéing, bring water and ½ teaspoon of salt to a rapid boil. Add the dumplings. Once they have floated to the surface, cook for another 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon and stir into the sautéed apples. Garnish with the remaining sage leaves.