ORIGINAL RECIPES
Laurie Salvador
Gnocchi Photo: Laurie Salvador
Vegetarian • Dairy Free Inexpensive • Takes a little effort
G
nocchi is a favourite in our house, especially with homemade tomato sauce. I remember learning how to make them over the shoulder of my Nonni. She made it look so effortless and I loved the way she rolled them over a fork Nonni to make the grid marks that allow the sauce to cling to them. You can make them ahead on a rainy day and freeze them for use at a dinner party. They will keep for several months in the freezer. Yukon Gold potatoes are slightly sweeter; I use them for gnocchi served with a tomato sauce. I found incredible purple fingerling potatoes in Keremeos this Summer (solanum tuberosum . . . high in anti-oxidants and potassium). They don’t bleed or fade when you cook them and make a stunning dish.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I remember learning how to make them over the shoulder of my Nonni. Special Equipment Potato ricer, gnocchi board or corrugated cardboard, micro-plane grater. Prep and Cooking Time: 1 hour 2 lbs/1 kg Yukon Gold, purple fingerling, or Russet potatoes: (4 medium) 1½ to 2 cups/120 to 240 gr allpurpose or Double 00 flour 1 egg yolk 1 tsp/5 ml salt 4 tbsp/60 ml finely grated parmesan cheese (optional) plus a little for garnish 1 tbsp/15 ml melted butter 1 tbsp/15 ml olive oil Black pepper Cook the unpeeled potatoes in a large pot of salted water until tender. When testing to see if they are done, use the same potato because piercing them will make BC Notaries Association
them take on water, which we don’t want. Drain and cool on paper towel. Remove skins and press through a potato ricer into a large bowl. If you don’t have a ricer, try a sturdy colander or a cheese grater. Add the egg yolk, salt, and 80% of the flour. Mix by hand. Keep adding the remaining flour until you have a mixture that is soft and smooth, much like a bread dough. On a floured workspace, roll a handful of the dough by hand into a long rope about ½" thick. Make it as consistent in size as possible. Cut the rope into 1" pieces. If you have a gnocchi board, roll the pieces gently over the board to create little ridges, then set them aside on a flour-dusted tray. If you don’t have a gnocchi board, gently roll them across the tines of a fork or a strip of corrugated cardboard. Before you roll the entire batch, freeze two for 15 minutes, then cook as a test. Put them in a pot of boiling salted water; when the gnocchi rise to the top, they are done. Cool and taste. • If the gnocchi are firm yet fluffy and have not disintegrated in the water, you have the right consistency. Volume 29 Number 4 Winter 2020
