Gnocchi
11 / 03 / 02 |
I was taught to make potato gnocchi years ago by my Italian neighbour, Lucio Di Nora. It has always been one of my favourite meals, even after some stodgy restaurant and ready-made gnocchi experiences. In summer, it can be light as air with fresh tomato sauce or pesto; in winter it becomes comfort food with a deliciously rich ragoût or bolognese.
There are many different versions of potato gnocchi, some with just egg yolk, others with no egg at all. But I still follow the simple recipe Lucio shared with me all those years ago. Taking the time to make your own gnocchi is a rewarding experience.
4-5 medium (1kg) floury potatoes (Agria, Desiree, Ilam Hardy, Rua, Red Rascal)
2-3 cups of plain flour
2 eggs
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1. Peel and cut the potatoes into large chunks. Cook the potatoes in unsalted boiling water until soft, for about 25 minutes. Drain and mash or pass through a potato ricer. Beat well, gradually adding 2 cups of the flour. Add the eggs and knead together. |
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2. Knead in more flour as necessary to make a very soft, but not sticky dough. |
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3. Tip on to a well-floured board and cut into 1½cm diameter logs. Cut each log into 1½cm sections. Place each piece of dough on the back of a fork, press down lightly with your thumb, and roll or flick pieces off the end of the fork and on to the floured board. Repeat with all the dough. You should end up with fork ridges on one side and an indentation on the other. This step is important as it allows the gnocchi to cook quickly and evenly.
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4. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Salt well. (Lucio used about 1 heaped teaspoon of salt per litre of water, and about 6 litres to boil this amount of gnocchi. It may seem like a lot of salt, but most doesn’t get absorbed – it just flavours the dough perfectly.) Add the gnocchi, about 20 at a time, cooking until they rise to the top. Leave for about 1 minute. Scoop out gnocchi with a slotted spoon and place in a covered dish in a warm oven until they are all ready.
Serve with your favourite sauce, toss with melted butter or a variation (see below) and lots of fresh parmesan. |
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and to serve........
11 / 03 / 02 |
Lucio's Quick Tomato sauce
In a medium pan heat 2-4 tablespoons of olive oil (the more oil, the better it will taste). Gently fry 4 crushed garlic cloves with ½ cup chopped flat-leafed parsley. Add 2 x 400g cans of Italian peeled tomatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve.
By adding any of the following you can vary this sauce: black or green olives, capers, chopped anchovy fillets, drained tuna chunks, basil leaves, feta cheese, toasted pine nuts, chopped rocket...
Deconstructed Pesto
Toss the cooked gnocchi in olive oil and crushed garlic, then scatter over fresh basil leaves, toasted pine nuts, shavings of parmesan, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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