In general, I love my vegetables and minimize my meat intake. But recently, I decided to be much more conscientious about using meat products — we’re talking borderline vegan. But just borderline. As such, I’ve renewed my love of potato. (Well, you saw my last post on potatoes!)
One of my favorite potato dishes is gnocchi (pronounced properly, please). I had a wonderful, brilliant, and sweet Italian ex-boyfriend (alas, the one who got away) who taught me how to make gnocchi alla sua mamma. Gnocchi can be made with semolina, ricotta, flour, or even pumpkin, but I love the potato version. Most gnocchi recipes call for the potatoes to be boiled, but all that accomplishes is a heavier potato — and for gnocchi, you want the potato to be its lightest. You want as much moisture out of the potato as possible. So I roast the potatoes for about an hour, and once I have the flesh broken up, I sometimes put it back in the oven to get it even drier. You’ll want a rich, starchy potato for gnocchi, so you can’t go wrong with the plain old Russet. The other typically erroneous thing about gnocchi — some recipes call for a lot of eggs. The Italian style I learned from Lorenzo does not use water and very little flour, so it takes some real skills to create the dough. The recipe below uses half an egg to help bind everything together, but work towards no egg in future.
Gnocchi takes sauces quite easily, but go for something simple that doesn’t require extra cooking of the gnocchi paste. Myself, I love pesto or a brown butter sauce. Mmmmh….well, I’ll be making it tonight. I’ll try to get some pictures to post.
Light As Air Gnocchi
Small handful kosher salt
1 lb russet potatoes (about 2 medium size)
1/2 egg, lightly beaten
Loose 1 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch fine grain salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting boar
Optional:
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Spread a layer of kosher salt on a baking sheet and place the potatoes on top. The salt helps with heat circulation and more even cooking of the potato. Bake for about an hour. When cool enough to handle, cut in half and remove the flesh. Refine the potatoes by passing them through a potato ricer, grating them on the large holes of a box grater, or deconstructing them by running a fork through the flesh. (The potatoes should feel like flour. If they’re too moist, place in oven for another 15 minutes to dry out. Cool until you can handle.)
Mound cooled potatoes and drizzle the egg and sprinkle 3/4 cup of the flour on the top. If using optional ingredients, sprinkle these on as well. Using a pastry scraper, incorporate the flour and eggs into the potatoes with the egg well mixed throughout. Scrape underneath and fold until the mixture is a light crumble. Lightly and gently knead the dough with your knuckles.
If the dough is too tacky, sprinkle a little more flour at a time and incorporate quickly and lightly. The dough should be moist but not sticky. It should feel firm but billowy. To test for the right correct consistency, take a piece and roll it with your hands on a well-floured board into a rope 1/2-inch in diameter. If the dough holds together, it is ready. If not, add more flour, fold and press the dough several more times, and test again.
Cut finished dough it into 8 pieces. Lightly roll each piece into rope about 1/2-inch in diameter. Use a knife to cut pieces every 3/4-inch. Dust with a bit more flour.
There are special tools for shaping gnocchi, but you can use a fork. Press each piece of dough in and down the length of fork tines with your thumb. The gnocchi will curl a bit, and it should have the ridged impression of the tines. Set each gnocchi aside, dust with a bit more flour if needed until you cook them.
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the gnocchi in batches by dropping them into the water a small handful at a time (do not overcrowd). The paste tells you when they’re cooked, as they will pop back up to the top. Let them float for 10 to 12 seconds and remove with a slotted spoon. Shake off water and serve with your favorite sauce. Minimize tossing to preserve their shape.
