How to Get Some……Gnocchi

Posted by Michael on Sep 18, 2008 in Recipes | 1 comment

If you’re ever looking for a dish to impress that special someone, look no further than the classic Italian dumpling, gnocchi.   While it might seem like a risky kind of thing to attempt for a date meal if you haven’t done it before, it’s actually a good one because you can make the dumplings way ahead of time.  If you nail a batch the first time out, great, but if you screw it up, there’s still plenty of time to start over.  Once you’ve got it nailed, then it’s just a matter of boiling at the last minute and tossing in a simple sauce, anything from alfredo to tomato to herb to just garlic, oil and parmesan.  Serve alongside a salad and dinner is nailed.   There’s lots of “nailing” in this paragraph, I know.  Try out some gnocchi to see why.

Pretty much the only special equipment you’ll need is a potato ricer.  This makes quick, consistant work of mashing the potato with no lumps and without making them gloopy (never puree them!).  Pretty much any sauce that works with pasta works great with gnocchi.  Try my tomato sauce from this site, or a simple cream sauce (below).

Gnocchi

3 russet potatoes (about a pound or so)

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg yolk

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Preheat your oven to 400 F.  Poke a few holes in each potato and bake them uncovered on a baking sheet for one hour.   This is essentially to both cook and dry out the potatoes a little bit.  The dryer the potato, the less flour you’ll have to use in the gnocchi dough.  Your goal is to have a dough that tastes more like potato than flour.  Let the potatoes cool for 10 minutes after they come out of the oven (you can cut them in half to speed up the process and release a bit more moisture).  Cut the potatoes into four pieces and pass them  through your ricer (you don’t even have to peel them – another great thing about the ricer) into a big bowl and season with salt.  Separate an egg and drop in the yolk.  Stir the mixture well.  Start by adding about a half cup of flour and mix it in.  At some point, you’re going to have to get your hands in there, so now’s a good time to do it.  Mix it well and add a bit more flour a time, mixing with each addition.  Really mash the dough together so it comes together in a ball.  Once you’ve got a cup or so of flour in there, it should be ready to move to a floured work surface.   Press and fold the dough (kneading) for several minutes until it gets smoother (this develops gluten in the flour that helps the gnocchi hold their shape, so really give it a workout), sprinkling more flour as necessary if the dough seems too wet.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle a bit more flour on your work surface.  Cut the dough into three pieces and roll out into a long, thin cylinder shape, like you used to do with play-dough when you were in University.  Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 1-inch pieces.  If someone’s watching, do this really quickly so you look cool.  Grab a fork and place it rounded-tines side up against each piece (see photo below).  Use your index finger to gently roll the piece up the tines of the fork to create a dimple on one side and ridges on the other.   That’s yer gnocchi.  Sprinkle the pieces with a bit of flour and toss them around a bit to get coated.  Remove to a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Refrigerate if you’re going to let them sit more than two hours, otherwise they can just stay on the counter.  Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a rolling boil.  When your sauce (and everything else for the meal) is ready to go, add the gnocchi to the pot by sliding them in to the water away from you.  Have a slotted spoon handy.  Once they start rising to the surface of the water, begin plucking them out with the slotted spoon into a bowl that’s got a little butter or oil in it (or if doing a light pan sauce, just spoon them right into your prepared sauce and toss).  Serve the gnocchi on pre-warmed plates (important).

Cream sauce for gnocchi

2 tablespoons butter

1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped into three chunks

1 cup coffee cream (18 per cent milk fat)

Hefty pinch of fresh grated nutmeg

salt and fresh cracked white pepper

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Heat a large fry pan over medium heat for a couple of minutes.  Add the butter, then add the garlic clove pieces.  Simmer for a minute then add a half cup of the cream.   Add the nutmeg, a pinch of salt and the white pepper.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low.  Let simmer for about six minutes to reduce and thicken. Pluck out the garlic pieces and discard.  Remove from heat and add the rest of the cream, then the parmesan cheese.  Return to heat and stir until smooth.  Add your gnocchi right to the pan and toss carefully.   Finish with a bit more cream and/or butter if it seems dry.  Serve on pre-warmed plates and top with more fresh-grated parmesan.

Rolling out the dough.

Rolling each piece against the fork.  Make sure your board is always well floured for this.

Ready for the pot.  You’ve nailed it!