Anyone have a good gnocci recipe? I’ve made it once, but it was a long time ago.
not a recipe per se but
about a pound of potatoes (I like a mix of starchy bakers and buttery ones like yukon or finn or what ever)
2 eggs
enough flour to make it all hold together.
Don’t kneed any more than you have to or they get tough ( I also used to use semolina but they get really tough and take forever to cook)
You can even make it so loose that you can squeeze them out of a pastry bag into the boiling water! or roll them out into snakes like when you were a kid and, if you want, mark with the back of a fork then cut into 1 inch lengths.
Get a gallon of water boiling and salted. turn the flame down enough to get a gentle boil and either pipe them in with the bag or drop the pieces in. Only a few at a time as you don’t want the water temp to drop to much.
When they float they are done, remove to a bowl of ice water to stop cooking.
once cool dry them on a clean towel.
they can be held in the fridge for a day or so.
i like to serve them in a cream sauce with some blue or gorganzola or a burre blanc.
Sometimes I use pumpkin instead of potato and make a citrus burre blanc and that’s pretty good.
Citrus burre blanc
Put some wine and some fresh squeezed citrus juice (Blood oranges make for a pretty color)
into a small sauce pan and boil to 1/3 volume. add butter a little bit at a time until about a stick is in there. It will get creamy when you have enough. Add the zest from the citrus, salt and pepper to taste and you are done!
the cream sauce is even easier
some onion or shallot sauted in a pan, deglaze with a little white wine.
when wine is almost gone add heavy cream. when it starts to thicken add chucks of gorgonzola or the like toss in gnocci and you are done!
One of my favorite treatments for gnocchi involves the following:
render the fat out of some bacon until crispy. remove bacon and allow to drain on paper towels, reserving a few tbsp of bacon grease in the pan.
sweat half an onion, finely diced, in the bacon fat. deglaze with your favorite brown ale - you want something nice and malty. Wee Heavy would also be good, it’s what I use. just eyeball it, about half the bottle should be good, and then you can drink the rest.
bring to simmer/reduce on low heat, and add one bay leaf.
once the sauce is about halfway reduced, add about 1/4-1/2 cup (depending on taste, natch) of dark brown sugar. also add a touch of cinnamon, and a bit of cayenne if you wish. Allow to reduce to a nice sauce-y texture, how much will depend again on your tastes. Meanwhile, crumble the bacon a bit.
when the sauce is done working, add a few tbsp of butter, and once it’s been incorporated, add a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten it up a bit. Toss the gnocchi with the sauce, plate, sprinkle with bacon. You can optionally candy some bacon instead, and use that.
PRO TIP: I’ve found that pretty much any preperation you can think of for gnocchi can apply with similar results to brussel sprouts. Dunno why, but it works. You could also try mixing brussel sprouts with gnocchi, a nice bol pour dîner.
I was thinking about doing a carbonara, but I was really wondering more about the actual gnocci itself. I’ve heard people say it was tricky, but it’s been so long I don’t remember.
That sauce sounds really good, but I think I’ll have to save that for another time. That’s the sort of thing that needs private experimentation before serving to guests.
I like them on the lighter-fluffier side. The pastry bag is a great approach- though I usually just form them with two spoons like quenelles. I think a ziplock bag with the appropriate tip would make a fine gnocci. Then gently boiled in salted water.
I’d say they are medium difficulty but it’s really a sharp learning curve. When I roll them out and cut and form with a fork they always seem too dense for my tastes so I make them more like “dumplings” with the spoons. I think just about any sauce works well though people tend to go for the creamier types.
Tossed in garlic, butter and fresh chopped parsley, topped with Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.
The importance of this cannot be understated.
Ah, well I’m glad you called it out, then. I would have missed it.
You can also try boiling with a bit of vinegar.
This based on teh idea that the acidic environment would coagulate proteins a little faster? like poching eggs?
What the hell is gnocci?
We don’t have that in SC
EDIT: Wikipedia says they are dumplings. We have those. Usually in chicken, rabbit or squirrel stew. Sometimes in blackberry or apple cobblers.
My bad.
You forgot possum.
Potato dumplings. Wee little ones. And I don’t eat possum.
Yeah, exactly.
Also, never fry gnocci:
Yeah ya do, you just call them pot stickers.
Well, due to time constraints I think I am going to go with store-bought. But I wont be deep frying them.
Now originally I was thinking carbonara, now I’m wondering how a basil cream sauce with crumbled bacon and parsley would be. I think I need to roll that one over in my head a little. Well, maybe for next time. I don’t want to start experimenting on this meal.
I wouldn’t compare gnocci and potstickers. In my mind potstickers are thinnish skins wrapped around a filling and cooked in the particular way that causes them to stick to the pan and then release. Wrinkledy little guys. Gnocci are simple dumplins with no filling. at least that’s how i see it.
I agree. They’re more like rivels.
had to look that one up! kind of like spetzle
Almost exactly like spaetzel. Great stuff.
one year for a halloween potluck I made pumpkin gnocci in a blood orange burre blanc and served it in a jack’o’lantern ala brains. It was fun and tasty. Wonder if I have a picture of that somewhere.