The 8th January? Er, I’m not quite sure how that happened – it’s not as if I’ve spent the first days of the new decade with amnesia induced by wild-partying, hard-drinking or pavement-sleeping. No, my New Years Eve was spent at home, watching the NFL Network (Top 10 Greatest Receiving Tackle Fumblers Coached By Aliens, or similar) followed by some civilized fireworks and bed at 00:04 or thereabouts. Laaaahvely.
But anyway, here we are, inexplicably in the second week of the year with no posts drafted or published. So, I’ll start at the beginning. I cooked these gnocchi for Mr. R&R and I to see in 2010. Yes, I know, as a good Italian he should have been ingesting lentils by the etto to symbolise getting lots of coins, i.e. money, in the new year, but we’ll do the Superenalotto instead, ok?
Dad will be well pleased, I imagine, as this is a double-gadget recipe (will Mum’s eye-rolling over nerdy kitchen tools be tempered by her pleasure at not cooking? It’s all to play for…). The first gadget in question is an industrial strength potato ricer from Williams Sonoma (which I suppose is the American equivalent of Divertimenti in the UK, but with more emphasis on monogram branding irons for the barbecue). It is an enormous, monofunction drawer-hog which could pass for an offensive weapon but, as I’ll explain below, it is essential for cloud-like gnocchi which float off the plate into open mouths, and so well worth the space sacrifice. The second is a pastry scraper (similar to this one), which makes quick work of cutting gnocchi up and of cleaning the countertop afterwards (very handy for bread-making too).
The idea of lightness in gnocchi, as far as I can glean from the internets (not having a handy Nonna around), lies in keeping the potato flesh as dry as possible and to work the gnocchi dough as little as possible. The first trick I’ve adopted is to bake the potatoes whole, so you’re not introducing any liquid by boiling or steaming.
Then comes the tricky bit – the potato flesh must be dispatched from its jackets as soon as your asbestos fingers allow, so it can steam dry in a thin layer. Mashing or (orrore!) processing is a bad idea as [insert scary molecular gastronomy explanation here] and you end up with potato-flavoured glue.
So – eccoci qua! – this is where the schiacciapatate, or potato ricer comes in – as soon as the potatoes come out of the oven, hold them down with a tea towel and cut them in half, then squash them cut side down into the ricer, press firmly and your work is done in thirty seconds flat – a pile of thin wiggly lugworm casts on the countertop, steaming away their water happily.
From here, adding flour and an egg to form a quick dough is easy, as is rolling them out – I followed this video, which advises you to form a rough log, chop this into four or five chunks, and then roll these chunks out by hand into long sausage shapes. Cut into finger-widths with a pastry cutter, sprinkle liberally with flour so they don’t stick to each other and they’re ready to go. At this point you can freeze some if you like – put on a plate, not touching, for the freezing process, then transfer to a freezer bag for storage. Defrost them on a plate for an hour or so before cooking in the usual way.
I honestly never thought to make gnocchi at home before, but these are truly easy, especially with the new tools above. Here I’ve given a melting, pea-green sauce of broccoli to coat them with, but olive oil and parmesan, or butter and sage are equally delicious and perfect for an even easier supper.
Gnocchi with broccoli sauce
Serves 4
For the gnocchi
- 1 kg big floury potatoes such as Yukon Gold or King Edwards (reckon on one big potato, about 250g, per person)
- 200g flour, “00″ or all-purpose
- 1 egg
- salt
About 1 3/4 hours before you want to eat, preheat the oven to 200˚C. Scrub the potatoes, prick them all over with a knife and once the oven is at temperature bake them for about an hour, or until perfectly cooked.
In the meantime, prepare the broccoli sauce, as below.
Have ready a clean countertop space and your flour measured out. Have the bag of flour open for sprinkling. Put a large pot of water on to boil and salt it as the Italians do, with literally a fist-full of salt. Put the broccoli sauce on a low heat to warm through.
As soon as the potatoes come out of the oven, use a potato ricer to squash out the insides into a thin layer on the countertop and leave to steam dry for 5 minutes or so.
Now (in a mixing bowl if you like), add the flour to the potatoes with four generous pinches of salt and start to bring the dough together, trying to work it as little as possible. Add in the egg and form the dough into a rough log shape on the countertop, and cut across into four or five chunks. Sprinkle with flour. Use the pastry scraper to clear a flour-free section of countertop.
Place a chunk of dough, cut-side uppermost, on the clean countertop and roll it out with your hands into a long sausage shape about the width of your thumb. Cut this sausage into finger-width little morsels. Sprinkle well with flour and use the pastry scraper to move to one side. Roll out and cut the other chunks of dough in the same way.
Now use a cheese grater or fork to roughen up the gnocchi so the sauce will stick to them better – use a thumb to press each gnocco into the rough side of the grater or against the tines of a fork, leaving a thumb-shaped dimple on one side and a textured edge on the other side.
When the pot of water is at a good vigorous rolling boil, turn the heat up to maximum and drop the gnocchi in. Give a quick stir with a wooden spoon and leave to come back to the boil. The gnocchi are ready in just a couple of minutes when they start to float to the surface. Drain in a colander, shaking off the excess water, and toss in the sauce. Serve and encourage all to drizzle with extra olive oil and cover with grated parmesan.
For the broccoli sauce
- 2 heads of broccoli
- 4 rashers bacon or a good handful chopped pancetta
- 200ml whole milk
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- Parmesan, grated, to serve
Cut the broccoli into medium florets and discard the stalks (I know, they’re good too, but they don’t break up enough for this sauce – save them to cook separately for cooks perks).
Put a large pot of salted water on to boil and cook the broccoli until very tender indeed – it should be soft enough for you to slice through easily with a dinner knife. Drain, put on a large chopping board and chop finely with a large knife.
Chop the bacon or pancetta and sauté in the olive oil until beginning to colour. Now add the chopped broccoli and stir briefly. Pour in the milk and when it begins to bubble, turn to a low simmer and cook for around 25 minutes, until the milk has reduced right down and the sauce is a creamy green rough purée. (If the heat is a little too high the milk may bubble up and form a skin, but just stir it back in – no harm done). Add more milk if it looks too dry before the cooking time is up – the longer you cook it for, the tastier the sauce is. Set aside and reheat gently just before cooking the gnocchi.
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