White Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Blue di Bufala

White sweet potato, probably not as sweet as yam or the regular sweet potato, is nonetheless delicious simply roasted. But why not go a little further? Make them into gnocchi and crumble some blue cheese over the subtlety sweet gnocchi. The more you chew, the sweeter they taste... Does it sound good to you? It should because it is so charmingly simple and just decadently pleasurable.

Of course, if you do not have white sweet potato, it is not an excuse to be lazy - just use regular yellow sweet potato or yam (just adjust the amount of flour for yam - more watery than sweet potato), and it is just as fine.

By the way, this beautiful plate comes from Puebla, Mexico, the land of fine ceramics. Tip: Hit the plates together before you buy - if they make metallic sound, you are not being cheated!

Ingredients:

• White sweet potatoes: Roasted at 400 degrees for 1 hour, but limit the amount of caramelization by wrapping them in foil. (If I were just going to eat them right out of oven, I would let them caramelize.)
• Flour (Multi-grain, whole-wheat or buckwheat): You can use white flour - It is just less interesting and it does nothing for your health. The earthiness of these flours adds a nice layer of depth to your gnocchi, by the way. One stone, two birds - anyone?
• Blu di Bufala: This comes from Murray's - a cheese shop in Grand Central. Buffalo milk is not only good for mozzarella; it makes equally delicious blue - very pungent, spicy, hard and perfect to balance out the sweetness of the gnocchi.
• Parsley

Preparation:

1. Smash and mash the sweet potatoes.
2. Add flour sufficient so that it you can roll the dough into a ball without having it stuck to the sides of the ball. The goal is to make them into ropes of your favored thickness (or 1/3 of an inch) and cut them up into pillows. So, keep that in mind when you add flour. Add just enough because you will be sprinkling more flour when you roll them out.
3. Sprinkle the counter with flour and roll the dough into long ropes and then cut them up. I like to make mine into 2cm x 2.5cm (a bit smaller than an square inch).
4. Boil the gnocchi in water with salt. Now how long? It really depends on how big your gnocchi are and other countless factors. So, how do you know if they are ready? Why don't you just eat one?
5. While your are boiling those lovelies, crumble the blue and chop the parsley. Be efficient.
6. When the gnocchi are done, drain the water and put them on a warm plate. Mix in the cheese.
7. If the aroma hasn't knocked you off or make you start devouring them in the kitchen, sprinkle with parsley and serve. No, parsley is not just to make it pretty and professional looking; it adds a nice clean after taste to your palate.