Give classic gnocchi a Cuban twist by using ripe green plantains instead of potatoes and a delicious garlic brown butter. The best weekend meal you’ll ever make!
When I first saw the sweet potato gnocchi with brown butter and sage recipe in Chrissy Teigen’s Cravings Cookbook, I immediately wanted to make it. It looks sooo good! The idea of little pillows of sweet potato made with ricotta, butter, sage, and tons of grated Parm sounds amazing.
As I read the recipe I thought to myself, “I wonder what this would taste like with sweet plantains instead of sweet potatoes.” Nothing wrong with sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are my jam. They’re practically my favorite side dish with any meal. Sweet potato mash, sweet potato fries, stuffed sweet potatoes – I love them. Soooo, I replaced the sweet potatoes in her recipe with sweet plantains and it was magical.
I honestly didn’t know how this was going to come out. It was my first time making gnocchi period, let alone changing the recipe up on a whim. But that’s how I do. I love to change things up. It’s fun! And it’s what cooking it all about. But I’m happy to report… the recipe was a success!
How To Make Sweet Plantain Gnocchi
First things first, you need to buy ripe plantains. Ripe plantains look like this. If you can’t find them like that, buy green plantains and give them a few days to ripen. To quicken the process, place the green plantains inside of a brown paper bag and set them aside in a warm place.
Once you have ripe plantains, you peel them and bake them for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F then you mash them up with ricotta, salt, pepper, and flour. At this point, you’ll get a dough which you divide into 3 equal parts. Roll each dough ball into 12-inch logs then using a paring knife, cut the log into 1-inch pieces. Boil the pieces, set aside and make the garlic brown butter.
When you’re making the garlic brown butter, place butter in a hot skillet and gently stir until you get an amber color and a nutty aroma. Remove it from the heat immediately once it has browned (careful not to burn) and add minced garlic. Set that aside then add the gnocchi into the hot skillet and pan sear until you get a light brown crust. To serve, add gnocchi to a plate, spoon over brown butter, and add grated Parm. YUM.
You can serve sweet plantain gnocchi with a spicy arugula salad or picadillo. Maybe even some black beans, sautéed veggies and/or grilled or roasted chicken! Honestly, you’re going to love the flavor of this so much, you may just want to enjoy it on its own.
I hope you make it and LOVE it as much as I do!
Sweet Plantain Gnocchi with Garlic Brown Butter
Ingredients
- 2 ripe plantains (very black) , peeled, baked at 350 degrees F at 30 minutes, and mashed
- 1/3 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
- salt + pepper to taste
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour plus more if necessary
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup finely grated Romano Parmesan Cheese plus more for garnish
Instructions
- In a bowl, add mashed plantains and stir with ricotta, pepper, salt. Slowly add flour and mix until a dough forms. If the mixture is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Flour your workspace and dump the dough mixture onto it. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts and gently roll them into balls. Now using your hands, roll one ball of dough into a 12-inch long, 1-inch thick log. If the mixture is sticking to your hands as you roll, add flour until no longer sticky. Cut the dough log into 1-inch square pieces to form about 50-60 gnocchi.
- In a pot with boiling water, add the gnocchi making sure they are not sticking to the bottom of the pot. Cook until they float to the top. Once they float to the top, drain them (do not rinse). Set aside.
- In a hot skillet, melt butter until it has an amber color and a nutty aroma. Careful not to burn. Remove from heat and stir in minced garlic. Set aside.
- In the same skillet, add gnocchi and pan sear, turning them over until it has a light brown crust, about 4 minutes. Careful not to overflow the pan. Remove gnocchi from heat and transfer to a bowl. Add browned butter and grated Parm to the bowl. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
This post was first published in April 2016. The recipe was retested, rephotographed and the post was updated in May 2018.
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Ohhhh these look awesome. But wait, I though gnocchi was a type of pasta lol I always buy the gnocchi from Trader Joes. It’s phenomenal. Girl, I’m gonna try this because it looks so delish :) Thanks for sharing.
Gnocchi is technically not pasta, it’s more like a dumpling because it’s made using potatoes instead of eggs + flour like traditional pasta. I guess you can say gnocchi is a pasta for potato lovers lol. This was actually WAY better than I expected. Hope you enjoy it! :)
Love it!
Hi!
I would really love to try your recipe but i was wondering with wich sauce do you serve them and with wich type of meal or protein?
Thank you so much, can’t wait to try your dish :)
Hi Eve, I’d pair this with roasted chicken or pork. As far as sauce, a little bit of melted butter goes a long way. Trust me, it’s so good on its own, it doesn’t even need a sauce. Enjoy! ;)
Thanks so much for the recipe. I had a ton of plantains and this gave me a way to use them I wouldn’t have considered. I liked this very much, but I noticed when I was making it that there was no mention of sage in the recipe, though you mentioned it in the description. Where would you have added it in?
Hi Akilah! Sage is, actually, not part of the recipe at all. My mistake. I’ve updated the blog post. Thanks for the heads up! :)