Another Face of Nigerian Coco Yam...Coco Yam Gnocchi

You know, besides the many stigma tied to Nigeria and Nigerian people; Nigeria is culinaryly under tapped or utilized. this blog is not only to expose to my fellow Nigerians how diverse are our ingredients, but to let the world know that we have fresh food ingredients and talented chefs/potentials like any other country.

 That being said, who knew that we can make Italian classic - Gnocchi with ede bu ji aka cocoyam (purely Nigerian ingredient). It is worthy to note that there are 3 to 4 types of coco yam. Melanga white, Lila (which Nigerians call red coco yam) and Melanga Edo which we call ede ndia...slimy in texture.
For this recipe; I'm using Lila. White will be just fine because it has same texture as potato.

here's how it's made;

Ingredients
1 large red coco yam -peeled and small diced and cooked in salted water till very tender.
2 - 1/4 cups and half of All purpose flour (half is used for dusting while kneading & to avoid sticking).
1 large egg
direction
combine above ingredients in a food processor and process just till smooth and combined. Add more flour if batter is very sticky. Be careful to not go over. Because it will toughen dough or ratio will become flour Gnocchi instead of coco yam.
Next...
Knead very slightly and form a 1" thick roll or log on a floured surface. Cut log into small 1" sizes and place in a floured sheet pan as I did...

Chill Gnocchi in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or more. After 30 minutes or more, bring 3 cups of water to rolling boil, season with salt to taste and toss in coco yam Gnocchi and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Rule of thumb is; once they float to the top, you know it's cooked.

while it's cooking, here's what you need for my simple herby lemon butter sauce;
1 tsp lemon zest
1 sprig of thyme - minced
1 sprig of Rosemary - minced
11 scallion/green onion - small diced
2 tbsp unsalted butter (real butter, not I can't believe it's butter please!!!).
2 red chilies - cracked
1 maggi cube
1 tbsp. diced red onions
1 tsp garlic infused oil
(Hello Nigerians..you can replace above herbs with fresh scent leaves if you can't find thyme & rosemary).
Direction 
Heat oil and butter to  medium heat. Add above ingredients except lemon zest; Cook for 3 minutes. Scoop Gnocchi into cooking sauce and some its liquid, add lemon zest and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Take off heat and enjoy immediately as a meal, or side dish to desired protein or as is!

I finished mine with a snow of Parmesan cheese...(this is only because I found this in my freezer). It is perfect as is.

Look at the finished product;

this food is unbelievably soft, pillowy, quick and absolutely tasty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...thanks for hanging out with me. if you have any suggestions on another way we can use coco yam beside traditional boil, porridge or roasting. Contact me and let's blog about it!

Till next time, try this recipe at home, keeping it simple, quick and TASTEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!