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Potato Gnocchi (Dumplings) with Cheese Sauce
Gnocchi are a North Italian-Swiss alternative to pasta
Ingredients
| 450 g | floury potatoes |
| 60 g | plain flour, and maybe more |
| 1 medium | egg, yolk only, beaten (but only if mixture is too dry, and then add only as much as necessary) |
| 1/2 tsp | salt |
| water to boil | |
| 2 tbsp | extra virgin olive oil, or enough for a light drizzle |
| For the sauce: | |
| 25 g | butter |
| 1/2 medium | onion, finely chopped |
| 1 clove(s) | garlic, chopped |
| 50 ml | white wine |
| 200 ml | double cream |
| 100 g | mild creamy cheese that will melt when cooked, emmenthal, gruyere, edam etc, coursely grated |
| salt, to taste | |
| fresh ground pepper, to taste |
Method
Preparation time: ca. 45 min / Grade of difficulty: medium / Calories per portion: n/a
Can be served as a main course, or in smaller amounts as an antipasto (starter).
To make the gnocchi:
Steam or boil the potatoes in their skins until tender, but do not overcook. Drain if necessary and allow to cool until they can be comfortably handled. Score around with a knife and remove skins. Scrape out any potato still adhering to skins. Mash with a fork, potato masher or ricer until free of lumps. It is best, and traditional, to do this by hand as processing in a blender or other motorised device tends to make the potato rather sticky as the cells are broken down too much.
Add flour and salt and bring together to a simple dough. If the mix seems too wet and sticky add a little more flour until it holds shape; if too dry add a little beaten egg yolk and mix until the dough forms. Take a small amount and roll out to a long 'sausage' about 1cm or a little more than 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 2cm or 3/4 inch lengths (you can use a knife or the edge of a fork for this) and use the prong end of a fork to lightly score one or both sides of each piece. It is usually the children's job to do this. The scoring increases the surface area of the gnocchi and allows rather more sauce to adhere than would otherwise be possible.
Part fill a large pan with water and add a little salt. Bring to boil. Add about 1/3 to 1/2 of the gnocchi depending upon the size of your pan (do not overcrowd) and cook until they rise to the surface, about 5 minutes. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and allow to drain in a bowl. Cook remaining gnocchi in same way. You may want to store the finished gnocchi in a slightly warm oven, plate warming drawer etc, to keep warm until all the gnocchi are cooked.
Place in a serving dish and drizzle over enough olive oil to lightly coat the gnocchi, pour the sauce over the top and serve.
To make the sauce:
Heat a medium pan and melt the butter. Do not allow to brown. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add the wine and cook until the quantity is reduced to about half original amount. Add the cream and simmer gently for a few minutes. Add the cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and warm until the cheese melts. Pour over the gnocchi to serve.
As an option to the cheese sauce, you can use a simple tomato sauce, seafood sauce or your favourite pasta sauce. It is nice to be able to offer two dishes; one with the cheese sauce above (halve all sauce ingredient quantities if using this option) and another with a red sauce (tomato alone or a tomato and meat sauce such as Bolognese sauce).
To make the gnocchi:
Steam or boil the potatoes in their skins until tender, but do not overcook. Drain if necessary and allow to cool until they can be comfortably handled. Score around with a knife and remove skins. Scrape out any potato still adhering to skins. Mash with a fork, potato masher or ricer until free of lumps. It is best, and traditional, to do this by hand as processing in a blender or other motorised device tends to make the potato rather sticky as the cells are broken down too much.
Add flour and salt and bring together to a simple dough. If the mix seems too wet and sticky add a little more flour until it holds shape; if too dry add a little beaten egg yolk and mix until the dough forms. Take a small amount and roll out to a long 'sausage' about 1cm or a little more than 1/2 inch thick. Cut into 2cm or 3/4 inch lengths (you can use a knife or the edge of a fork for this) and use the prong end of a fork to lightly score one or both sides of each piece. It is usually the children's job to do this. The scoring increases the surface area of the gnocchi and allows rather more sauce to adhere than would otherwise be possible.
Part fill a large pan with water and add a little salt. Bring to boil. Add about 1/3 to 1/2 of the gnocchi depending upon the size of your pan (do not overcrowd) and cook until they rise to the surface, about 5 minutes. Scoop out with a slotted spoon and allow to drain in a bowl. Cook remaining gnocchi in same way. You may want to store the finished gnocchi in a slightly warm oven, plate warming drawer etc, to keep warm until all the gnocchi are cooked.
Place in a serving dish and drizzle over enough olive oil to lightly coat the gnocchi, pour the sauce over the top and serve.
To make the sauce:
Heat a medium pan and melt the butter. Do not allow to brown. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add the wine and cook until the quantity is reduced to about half original amount. Add the cream and simmer gently for a few minutes. Add the cheese, salt and pepper to taste, and warm until the cheese melts. Pour over the gnocchi to serve.
As an option to the cheese sauce, you can use a simple tomato sauce, seafood sauce or your favourite pasta sauce. It is nice to be able to offer two dishes; one with the cheese sauce above (halve all sauce ingredient quantities if using this option) and another with a red sauce (tomato alone or a tomato and meat sauce such as Bolognese sauce).
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Sir_Baba
16/05/2013 20:34 o'clock