Sarah’ Stegner’s Goat Cheese Gnocchi

Sarah Stegner is a friend of many years and one of the chef/owners of Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook IL. Chicago has a wonderful network of women food stars and Sarah is one of them. She began her career as a teenager working in the kitchen of the Ritz Carlton Chicago, much like our mutual friend Carrie Nahabedian at Brindille. Along with the late Abby Mandel, the dynamic woman behind Chicago’s Green City Market, they helped forge one of the most successful farm markets in the country. In their own restaurants they ‘walk the walk’ of Midwest farm-to-fork, consistently supporting the best local ingredients and farmers.

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This super easy recipe is so delicious and versatile, you’ll want to make it again and again. You can serve immediately after boiling and draining—or drain, and saute in oil or butter until crispy. Sarah’s dish was peeled, cubed, sweet potatoes, sautéed till tender, finished with fresh lemon juice and served on a bed of fresh greens, then topped with crispy gnocchi.  There’s a lot of goat cheese in this recipe and I was surprised that it was so delicately balanced once cooked. Because it’s so deliciously simple, I plan to repeat this again and again with a lot of different combinations. This recipe will serve 2-4 depending on the appetites!

  • 1 cup fresh goat cheese (8oz. Capriole fresh log), room temp

  • ½ cup flour

  • 1 small egg

  • ¼ to ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Lightly add and mix the following ingredients in the order above—but do not overmix. Draw the moist dough together and divide into 4 equal portions. 

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 On a floured board or pastry cloth roll out a portion of the dough with the flat of your hand into about a 1” tube and cut on the diagonal into 1/2” sections

Meanwhile fill a 6-7 quart saucepan ½ full of water and bring to a boil. I use a wire fry basket inside the saucepan to hold the gnocchi. Drop the gnocchi in the boiling water—about 1 cut tube into the water at a time.  Don’t overcrowd the pan. It’s  done when it rises to the top of the water.  Remove to paper towels to drain.

At this point you can serve in a sauce or saute until lightly browned. I stew okra, corn, and tomatoes with basil and serve the crispy gnocchi on top.