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Friday, March 20, 2015

Gnocchi

Gnocchi


The best gnocchi my daughter and I tasted was in a restaurant called "Wanted" (Birreria Moretti), a few blocks from the Colosseum  in Rome.  The tender and light Gnocchi were in a rich cream sauce, tiny bite size, about 1/2 inch in diameter and about 1 1/2 inches long.  The Gnocchi was not fried. We had this twice while in Rome and were not disappointed!

The recipe made by Gord Ramsay appealed to me as it spoke to a recipe that was developed to use leftover potatoes.

I decided to make Gnocchi when babysitting my granddaughter and for my son who picks her up at the end of his day.



After microwaving 4 small red potatoes, I spooned out the potato and mashed it with a fork.  Since I didn't have ricotta cheese as suggested and too lazy to blend the cottage cheese that I had, I added two tablespoons of Plain Greek yogurt, freshly ground pepper and one egg.  Then enough flour to make a soft dough, about 1/2 cup but probably could have added a bit more as red potatoes have a higher water content than yellow ones.  Working with floured hands, divide the dough into half, then roll out the dough into long strip.  Cut the strip into bite size pieces and press with a floured finger an indentation in the middle.  Drop into boiling water and lift out when the gnocchi rises to the top. 





The gnocchi will puff up when boiled.  Have a hot skillet ready with Olive Oil to brown the gnocchi.  Add butter and green peas to the pan.  



I used frozen peas and had to brown the gnocchi in the oven to get that rich golden color.   






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