30 May 2012

HOME-MADE POTATO GNOCCHI

POTATO GNOCCHI

POTATO GNOCCHI

One word: IRRESISTIBLE! They were meant to be a one-off, but surely did not stay that way. This must be the fourth time I have made them, and I can't see myself purchasing their plastic-wrapped, now clearly in the deepest shadow, Supermarket cousins anytime soon. Yes, they may be time-consuming and quite a bit of an effort, and the shaping requires a little practice, but it's not all that difficult, even for my unskilled non-Italian hands. One batch offers plenty of practice, and in the end the quality makes really up for it. Also, freshly made and frozen they turn into a perfect quick mid-week evening meal, especially as they can be cooked straight from frozen, needing just a couple of more minutes cooking time. A great companion for home-made PESTO ALLA GENOVESE, a simple Tomato Sauce, or my favourite: SAUSAGE AND PORCINI SAUCE.

Ingredients based on: Giancarlo Caldesi: How to Make Gnocchi
(Signor Caldesi does not show how to shape his Gnocchi into the traditional form unfortunately, so more of that below. I also replaced the pepper with nutmeg)

1kg starchy potatoes (I read that red starchy ones are best as they hold the potato better in the skin during boiling and are more tasty, but I used normal white starchy ones for this recipe. Just make sure not to overcook them until their skin bursts)
300g '00' flour + additional for dusting
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
freshly grated nutmeg
additional salt for boiling

Boil the potatoes: 
Wash the potatoes, then place them unpeeled in a large pot and cover with cold water - it is important to use cold water as the potato skins may split if they are put immediately into boiling water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook the potatoes gently until they are soft and can be easily pierced with a skewer or knife. The potatoes should fall off the skewer after piercing, if they hold on, more cooking is needed. Drain the potatoes, then, holding the potatoes with a kitchen towel to protect the hand from burning, peel the skins off with a small knife while still hot. Make the dough immediately following the steps below.

Make the dough: 
Put the peeled potatoes through a potato ricer - this will incorporate air, making the potatoes even fluffier. It is important that these initial steps are done very quickly, as the hotter the potatoes, the softer the Gnocchi will be.

POTATO GNOCCHIPOTATO GNOCCHI

Leave the riced potatoes to cool just a little, then add the egg and stir in quickly in order for the egg not to start cooking from the heat of the potatoes. Season with the salt and some freshly grated nutmeg and stir. Add some of the flour and start to stir gently into a dough-like texture, then put the mixture onto a work surface.


POTATO GNOCCHIPOTATO GNOCCHI
POTATO GNOCCHIPotato Gnocchi

Add the remaining flour, little at a time, and knead very gently into a soft, smooth dough. Try not to overknead and handle too much as the dough will become more sticky and require even more flour. If the flour sticks to the work surface, use a dough scraper to scrape off the sticky bits and knead them back into the potatoes. The final flour amount depends on the type of potatoes used, the size of egg, etc. The dough should be smooth and very soft. 

Shape the Gnocchi: 
Cut off a small piece of dough with a dough scraper or a knife. Dust the work surface, then roll the dough piece into a long rope, app. 2cm thick. Cut the rope into 2 cm pieces.


POTATO GNOCCHIPOTATO GNOCCHI
POTATO GNOCCHI

Gnocchi are often served just like this, but I prefer them with the proper pattern and shape as they soak up a lot more sauce. To do this, flour hands, then take each Gnocchi one-by-one, place into a little flour and roll into a small ball. Then roll over the tines of a fork to make the typical Gnocchi pattern and shape: to do so, hold the fork with one hand, tip of the tines leaning on the work surface, and concave side up, at a slight angel to the surface. Put the tip of your thumb into flour, then place one Gnocchi on the top of the tines. Roll the Gnocchi downwards with the tip of your thumb, applying little pressure.


POTATO GNOCCHIPOTATO GNOCCHI

The Gnocchi will start to flatten a little underneath the thumb, but through the downward movement will also start to roll around the tip of the thumb in a circle-like motion into a C-shape. You want to end up with a small cavity inside the Gnocchi and the typical pattern created by the ridges on the other side. The picture shows it a bit extreme and the opening does not need to stay like this, normally the rolling movement closes the Gnocchi, or it can be pressed together a little at the end. I did shoot a couple of pictures to show this in more detail, but my thumb stuck inside the gnocchi was no real eye-candy ;-)

POTATO GNOCCHIPOTATO GNOCCHI

Put the Gnocchi onto a surface dusted with flour. Repeat with the remaining dough balls until all Gnocchi have been shaped. This does need a little practice, but there's plenty of that with 1kg of potatoes... and they don't need to be all perfect and identical, they still taste nice :-)

POTATO GNOCCHI

Cook: 
Bring plenty of water to a boil, salt and put the Gnocchi inside, small portions at a time and shaking off access flour as much as possible. Reduce the heat a bit and leave to cook gently. When the Gnocchi are cooked - and this will take no more than a couple of minutes - they will rise to the surface. Spoon off with a slotted spoon and put into the prepared sauce. Stir well with the sauce and serve, sprinkled with a little freshly grated Parmesan.

POTATO GNOCCHI

In case the Gnocchi need to be frozen, place the freshly made Gnocchi in a single layer onto a tray that fits inside the freezer. Freeze until hard for a couple of hours - this will prevent them from sticking together later. Once hard, place the frozen Gnocchi into a freezer bag and freeze until use. They should keep for several weeks. Gnocchi can be boiled immediately from frozen, they will just take a couple of minutes longer to cook.


POTATO GNOCCHI



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HOME-MADE POTATO GNOCCHI

Potato GnocchiPotato GnocchiPotato Gnocchi

1kg starchy potatoes (I read that red starchy ones are best as they hold the potato better in the skin during boiling and are more tasty, but I used normal white starchy ones for this recipe. Just make sure not to overcook them until their skin bursts)
300g '00' flour + additional for dusting
1 large egg
1 tsp salt
freshly grated nutmeg
additional salt for boiling

1) Boil and peel the potatoes: Wash the potatoes, then place them unpeeled in a large pot and cover with cold water - it is important to use cold water as the potato skins may split if they are put immediately into boiling water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook the potatoes gently until they are soft and can be easily pierced with a skewer or knife. The potatoes should fall off the skewer after piercing, if they hold on, more cooking is needed. Drain the potatoes, then, holding the potatoes with a kitchen towel to protect the hand from burning, peel the skins off with a small knife while still hot. Make the dough immediately following the steps below. 


2) Press the potatoes through a ricer: Put the peeled potatoes through a potato ricer - this will incorporate air, making the potatoes even fluffier. It is important that these initial steps are done very quickly, as the hotter the potatoes, the softer the Gnocchi will be. 


3) Make the dough: Leave the riced potatoes to cool just a little, then add the egg and stir in quickly in order for the egg not to start cooking from the heat of the potatoes. Season with the salt and some freshly grated nutmeg and stir. Add some of the flour and start to stir gently into a dough-like texture, then put the mixture onto a work surface.

Add the remaining flour, little at a time, and knead very gently into a soft, smooth dough. Try not to overknead and handle too much as the dough will become more sticky and require even more flour. If the flour sticks to the work surface, use a dough scraper to scrape off the sticky bits and knead them back into the potatoes. The final flour amount depends on the type of potatoes used, the size of egg, etc. The dough should be smooth and very soft. 

3) Shape the Gnocchi: Cut off a small piece of dough with a dough scraper or a knife. Dust the work surface, then roll the dough piece into a long rope, app. 2cm thick. Cut the rope into 2 cm pieces. Use the Gnocchi like this, or shape into traditional shape. 

4) Shape Traditional Gnocchi: Flour your hands, then take each 2 cm piece from the step before one-by-one, place into a little flour and roll into a small ball. Roll it over the tines of a fork to make the typical Gnocchi pattern and shape: to do so, hold the fork with one hand, with the tines leaning on the work surface, and the forks concave side up, at a slight angel to the surface. Put the tip of your thumb into flour, then place one Gnocchi on a  the top of the tines. Roll the Gnocchi downwards with the tip of your thumb, applying little pressure.

The Gnocchi will start to flatten underneath the thumb, but through the downward movement will also start to roll around the tip of the thumb in a circle-like motion into a C-shape. You want to end up with a small cavity inside the Gnocchi and the typical pattern created by the ridges on the other side. The rolling down movement closes the Gnocchi, or it can be pressed together a little at the end, leaving the small cavity inside. Put the Gnocchi onto a surface dusted with flour. 

5) Finish with the remaining dough: Repeat with the remaining dough balls until all Gnocchi have been shaped. This does need a little practice, but there's plenty of that with 1kg of potatoes... and they don't need to be all perfect and identical, they still taste nice :-)

6) Cook the Gnocchi: Bring plenty of water to a boil, salt and put the Gnocchi inside, small portions at a time and shaking off access flour as much as possible. Reduce the heat a bit and leave to cook gently. When the Gnocchi are cooked - and this will take no more than a couple of minutes - they will rise to the surface. Spoon off with a slotted spoon and put into the prepared sauce. Stir well with the sauce and serve, sprinkled with a little freshly grated Parmesan.

Storing: In case the Gnocchi need to be frozen, place the freshly made Gnocchi in a single layer onto a tray that fits inside the freezer. Freeze until hard for a couple of hours - this will prevent them from sticking together later. Once hard, place the frozen Gnocchi into a freezer bag and freeze until use. They should keep for several weeks. Gnocchi can be boiled immediately from frozen, they will just take a couple of minutes longer to cook.



19 May 2012

GOATS CHEESE AND TOMATO TARTE

GOATS CHEESE AND TOMATO TARTE

These days for me it's either spending hours in the kitchen experimenting, trying out recipes and taking pictures, or it has to be pretty fast like after a long day of work. This tarte fits exactly that purpose, with the tarte base shop-bought of course rather than home-made. It makes a delicious light dinner, or Appetizer, or fingerfood for guests. The idea is to keep it really simple, all being put together in a couple of minutes, letting the beautiful ingredients and colours taste and speak for themselves. 

14 May 2012

A CRUSH ON BASIL - PESTO ALLA GENOVESE

A CRUSH ON BASIL - PESTO ALLA GENOVESE

A CRUSH ON BASIL - PESTO ALLA GENOVESE

Pesto originates from Genoa, the capital of Liguria, a region in the northwest of Italy. Apparently the Romans used to eat a similar paste called 'Moretum' (Mortarium = grinding bowl), made from cheese, garlic and herbs. What was missing at the time was the basil, but that arrived much later in Italy from India where it had its original roots. Apparently each family in Liguria and Genoa has their own secret recipe, with no two Pestos the same. We have tried several versions, but the recipe below, made with pestle and mortar beat all our previous attempts. 'Pestare' is Italian for crush or beat, and the traditional way to make Pesto is by crushing and grinding it in a (marble) mortar with a (wooden) pestle. It is said to help release the essential oils and flavours. 

10 May 2012

CREAMY ASPARAGUS SOUP

CREAMY ASPARAGUS SOUP

CREAMY ASPARAGUS SOUP

According to Wikipedia: 'The 'points d'amour' ('love tips') [of asparagus] were served as a delicacy to Madame Pompadour, grown in special green houses built by no other than Louis XV. So much for love... but what did they do with the remaining, not so much loved and now unsightly headless asparagus souls? Turned them into soup maybe. Notice, in honour of Madame Pompadour's 'love tips' the hearts on top of mine...  ;-)

6 May 2012

BEEF AND ONION GOULASH

BEEF AND ONION GOULASH

BEEF AND ONION GOULASH

Beginning of May and another grey, cold and rainy weekend with temperatures on an all-time low, so we are still craving for comfort food. This time it's another one of my childhood memory dishes: Goulash. Goulash is originally from Hungary, and was most likely adopted in Austria during the times of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. There are many versions of it: with peppers, wine, different spices, and with more or less onions. I like mine with a lot of onions as I find it's the onions as well as the paprika powder that  differentiate the Goulash so much from other beef stews. I cut them very finely, and they melt and thicken the sauce in a nice rough and tasty way. The beef used is typically

4 May 2012

WIENERSCHNITZEL or not WIENERSCHNITZEL...

WIENER SCHNITZEL

Wiener Schnitzel is a traditional Austrian dish - although there is a debate if it originated in Vienna or Milan, but it has definitely been adopted in Austria as one of our main national dishes since many centuries. It is made from veal escalopes dipped in flour, egg and bread crumbs and fried in butter, lard or oil. I made mine with pork, and apparently for this reason I am no longer legally allowed to call them 'Wiener Schnitzel', but the official name should be 'Wiener Schnitzel vom Schwein', translated 'Wienerschnitzel from Pork'  :-), or 'Schnitzel, the Viennese Way'.  Fair enough I guess, but whatever they are called, they are so delicious and make me feel like home. I tend to use pork as it's more tasty and also less expensive. Having said that, sometimes I make the Schnitzels from pork fillet, a little more expensive, but they are just so tender. Although it should be served