Potato Gnocchi stuffed with Italian Sausage

Ingredients

• 1 Lb Ground Italian Sausage
• 4 Cups Cooked Potato
• 5 TBS Garlic Powder
• 1 1/2 TBS Salt
• 1 1/2 Tsp Black Pepper
• 1 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper
• 2 TBS Basil (dried) (Fresh Basil could also be used)
• 1 TBS Xanthan Gum (Or Guar Gum for Corn free)
• 2 1/2 Cups Millet Flour
• 3/4 Cups Rice Flour
• 2 1/4 Cups Arrowroot
• 1/2 Cup Potato Flour

Directions

First I must confess- this is not my photo. I put this recipe together last November and  filed the recipe away in my-”To be posted” folder. I’m just now getting around to sharing it- and I can’t for the life of me track down the accompanying photo. The difference in my pastas appearance is that it has little specs of ground sausage.

To make this Gnocchi- I used a combination of Millet, Rice, Arrowroot and a little Potato Flour.  If you do not have all 4 flours you could just use Millet or Rice in combination with the Arrowroot or Potato Flours.  If you do have all 4 flours- use them as I prefer the results with the mix.

The Eggs can be omitted- throw in 2 TBS of ground flax meal instead. However I must warn you that they will not have as firm of a texture.

1. Bake or Boil Potatoes until they are fork tender. Remove from Skin and Allow to cool.
2. Cook Italian Sausage and set aside. (I recommend using hot Italian sausage- you can buy links and remove from casings)
3. In a Large Bowl Mash the cooled potato as finely as possible (use a potato ricer if you have one) Add the Spices, Salt, Pepper Eggs and Xanthan Gum and cooked sausage.
4. Little by little add all of the flour.
5. On a floured surface roll sections of the dough into a long “rope” and cut the gnocchi into small sections with a sharp knife. At this point you can press each gnocchi with a fork, roll it on a gnocchi board or just leave the pasta as is (which is what I usually do!)
6. At this point the gnocchi can be cooked or frozen. I typically get out 3 cookie trays and flour them and place the cut gnocchi on them- I then freeze. This prevents the gnocchi from sticking together. Once it has frozen it can be placed in a large freezer bag.
7. To cook the Gnocchi- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil – add the gnocchi and cook until it comes to a float. (The gnocchi will finish cooking within a few minutes- and cooks even faster fresh)

These gnocchi are delicious sauteed in a little butter (I use Soy Free Earth Balance) Try Topping with Mozzarella Daiya Cheese or Nutritional Yeast.  They also work well with a basic marinara sauce.